It sounds like shift whistles before sunrise.
Friday night lights in small-town stadiums.
Family farms, factory shifts, church pews, and communities where people still know your name.

From Bluffton to Hartford City, from Portland to Decatur and southwest Fort Wayne, politics here isn’t abstract.

It’s personal.

It’s about whether your kids can stay close to home and still build a future.

In this episode, I sat down with Timothy Murphy, a Democratic candidate for Indiana State Senate District 19, to talk about what happens when someone decides that “nobody running” is no longer acceptable.

Because that’s where this starts.

No Democratic challenger had run in this district for years.

No option.
No real competition.
No reason for the incumbent to even have to answer hard questions.

Tim’s response was simple:

That has to change.

He’s a pastor, an advocate, and someone who approaches politics less like a performance and more like a responsibility.

And one of the first things he made clear is something I appreciated:

He doesn’t pretend to have every answer.

When we talked about population decline in places like Blackford and Jay counties, he didn’t hand over some polished miracle cure.

He said what more candidates should say:

This is complicated.

Decades of economic decline, disappearing jobs, young people leaving after graduation—there isn’t a magic button for that.

But there is work.

We talked about manufacturing and agriculture, where he made a strong case for labor rights and union protections—especially in a state where “right to work” has often meant weaker worker power.

He also pushed back on the romanticized version of agriculture.

Yes, farming is culturally central to the district.

But economically, many small farms are barely surviving, while big ag dominates the land and the money.

His focus:
protecting family farms, supporting smaller operators, and making rural life economically viable again.

Healthcare was another major theme—and one of the strongest parts of the conversation.

He pointed out something that should make every Hoosier pause:

Some hospitals in these counties don’t even have emergency rooms anymore.

Bluffton lost its birth unit.
Blackford County has no ER.
People facing emergencies are driving farther and farther just to get basic care.

That’s not inconvenience.

That’s danger.

For Tim, healthcare is one of the clearest examples of what happens when we let “the market” decide human needs.

He called it what it is:

A market failure.

And he argued the state has a responsibility to step in where profit won’t.

We also talked public schools—especially rural districts fighting retention and funding issues.

His view was direct:
if a school takes public dollars, it should have public transparency.

That includes charter schools and private schools receiving state money.

And on a broader level, he made a point I thought was powerful:

Teachers should be paid based on where they’re needed most—not just where property values are highest.

We also got into one of my favorite curveballs of the night:

Rail.

Yes—rail.

Tim made a surprisingly passionate case for rebuilding regional rail access across northeast Indiana.

Not just as transportation, but as economic development, mobility, and belonging.

He called it “Make Rail Great Again,” and honestly… it might be the most unexpectedly compelling argument of the interview.

Because third places matter.
Community spaces matter.
And if young people are going to stay somewhere, they need more than work and home.

They need connection.

On mental health, he was crystal clear:

It is critically underfunded.

And the state’s habit of cutting services while calling itself “low tax, low regulation” comes with a cost:
people in crisis getting treated like problems instead of people.

That’s not leadership.

That’s neglect.

Then we got to one of the bigger strategic questions:

How does a Democrat function in a Republican supermajority Senate?

His answer was honest.

Some wins come through coalitions.
Some come through pressure.
Some come through simply refusing to stay quiet when bad policy moves forward.

And sometimes your job is not to win the vote—

it’s to make sure people know what’s happening.

Then, as always, we put it to the test with Hold ’em or Fold ’em.

Rural hospitals? Hold.
Public schools before vouchers? Hold.
Medical marijuana? Hold.
Family farms over consolidation? Hold.
Mental health investment? Absolutely hold.

What stood out most wasn’t just the policy.

It was the reason he’s running at all.

Not ego.

Not ambition.

Choice.

Because democracy without options isn’t much of a democracy at all.

And in District 19, that alone makes this race matter.

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Last week’s piece on Bayh’ relationship with the private equity industry can be found here.

Who does a candidate really work for when they take fistfuls of cash from billionaires?

I’m a working-class Hoosier, so that question matters to me. My loyalty is to my family, my neighbors, and the people struggling alongside me. Not party bosses. Not billionaire donors. So when I see money flowing into a race from a foreign lobby, I pay attention.

All money is not good money. We do not need billionaire backers to fight the other side’s billionaire backers. We would do well to remember that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

Now, I know what some political insider is thinking: The Indiana Secretary of State doesn’t set foreign policy. Why are you talking about a foreign lobby?

True, the Secretary of State doesn’t have much to do with foreign policy.

They do, however, decide on which businesses operate in Indiana, which investment firms face scrutiny, and who manages our public money. Foreign interests don’t just pour money into down-ballot races because they care about Hoosiers. They do it because they want a friend in the room when their business interests cross the statehouse threshold.

So let’s talk about the foreign lobby in the room.

The Israel Lobby

I am going to use the term “lobby” the way political scientist John Mearsheimer does: as shorthand for the loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction.

This is not a conspiracy theory.

It is a network of well-funded political action committees.

Key organizations in this lobby include the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), JStreetPAC, U.S. Israel PAC, the Friends of Israel PAC, United Democracy Project, among others. Then there are the multitude of insidious shell PACs cropping up in races across the country. Shell PACs like the United Democracy Project, Affordable Chicago Now!, Chicago Progressive Partnership, and Elect Democratic Women Action Fund.

And when you look at Beau Bayh’s donor list, you begin to see the Israel Lobby propping up his campaign. The contributions are not direct; they flow through a web of billionaires, bundlers, and dark money groups, all converging on a single candidate.

This isn’t just about foreign policy. It’s about what is happening right here in Indiana. Because the Israel Lobby doesn’t just focus on the White House or Congress—they work to ensure all 50 states are building favorable relationships with Israel. And Indiana is a prime example.

Let’s start with the most direct financial link: Indiana currently invests $110 million in Israeli bonds. When a state buys an Israeli bond, it essentially loans the Israeli government money with an agreement that they will get those funds back in an agreed-upon number of years, plus interest. For my non-econ bros, that means taxpayer dollars are effectively being loaned to the Israeli government. And while the bond portfolio falls under state Treasurer Daniel Elliott, it shows how much financial value statewide officials can direct toward a foreign ally.

Then came Governor Mike Braun, who eagerly invested $15 million in Hoosier taxpayer dollars to integrate Israeli start-ups with Indiana universities and healthcare systems, through a platform called Iron Nation which was launched right after the October 7th attacks.

Now follow the money to a darker outcome. Indiana’s Applied Research Institute (ARI), funded by state taxpayers, used its “Tradewinds Solutions Marketplace” to fast-track Palantir’s AI-powered Maven Smart System. That directly enabled a $99 million military contract for software later used to strike an Iranian girls’ school. Purdue’s president and Indiana University’s president sit on ARI’s board—meaning our public universities helped rubber-stamp automated targeting that reduces civilian death to “a click away.”

But the most stunning example isn’t just financial or military. It’s intelligence. The largest solar project in the U.S., the Mammoth Solar project in Pulaski and Starke Counties, is being built by Doral Renewables, a subsidiary of an Israeli company. And recently, Yossi Cohen—the former head of the Israeli Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel—was appointed as a director at Doral Renewables LLC.

So to be clear: the former head of a foreign intelligence agency is now a director of a company building the largest solar project in the United States. Right here in Indiana.

The Israel Lobby doesn’t stop at the presidential level. They target statewide offices because they need state officials who will look the other way, facilitate the deals, and ensure bond purchases continue without scrutiny. If we want to know who our candidates are truly working for, we have to follow the money…from bonds, to universities, and from solar fields, to spy agencies.

That’s the Lobby’s statewide footprint.

So now that we have a working understanding of what the Israel Lobby is and why it targets state races, let’s turn to Beau Bayh’s donor list. Because the Lobby, remember, is also people. It’s billionaire families with deep Indiana roots who write the checks.

The Simon Family’s Deep Pockets

First up, the Simon family.

We covered the family’s influence in Indianapolis in a previous report that you can read here.

Herbert Simon, founder of the Simon Property Group in 1960, is a longtime donor to the Israel Lobby. Since 2022, Herb Simon has donated $96,700 to AIPAC. And on December 5, 2025 he donated $25,000 to Beau Bayh’s campaign.

Deborah Simon donated $2,000,000 to the Democratic Majority for Israel on April 7, 2025 and is one of the top 15 donors to the Israel Lobby. According to filings, while DMFI’s previous reports showed modest hauls, this single contribution dramatically altered the group’s financial standing. Deborah Simon also donated $75,000 directly to Beau Bayh on November 21, 2025.

Then there's Deborah's sister, Cynthia Simon-Skjodt.

Cynthia was appointed by then-President Joe Biden to the council board for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the nation’s official memorial to the Holocaust. The museum's Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide says it "works to do for the victims of genocide today what the world failed to do for the Jews of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s."

That’s a noble mission.

Here's the problem: the museum lists 23 country case studies where its Center for the Prevention of Genocide has worked. Palestine and Lebanon are nowhere on that list.

The museum teaches "that the Holocaust was preventable and that by heeding warning signs and taking early action, individuals and governments can save lives." Meanwhile, multiple genocide scholars and human rights organizations have clearly documented the evidence of Israel's genocide in Gaza.

The museum's response? Silence.

The Simon family's checkbook, meanwhile, is loud and clear.

The D.C. Insider

Then there is Norm Brownstein, a quintessential Washington power broker. Brownstein donated $10,000 to Beau Bayh on November 26, 2025—just twelve days after donating $14,000 to AIPAC. In 2025 alone, Norm Brownstein donated $45,900 to AIPAC.

Because of his influence, former senators Ted Kennedy and Hank Brown have reportedly dubbed Brownstein “America’s 101st senator.” His influence extends deep into policy. He was a key player in getting President Donald Trump to enforce the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism in universities under Title VI. He has also served as vice president of AIPAC and has worked hard on Capitol Hill to ensure “America’s relationship with Israel ironclad.”

Wall Street Weighs In

The financial sector is also heavily represented. Eric Mindich, a $10,000 donor to Bayh, donated $350,000 to the Democratic Majority for Israel in 2024. Mindich is a founding partner of the hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management and his philanthropic giving has consistently aligned with major pro-Israel organizations and AIPAC’s political spending priorities.

Then there’s the Apollo problem.

On January 5, 2026, Marc Rowan donated $25,000 to Beau Bayh. Rowan is a billionaire and a top AIPAC mega-donor who gave $1 million to the Trump Victory super PAC in 2020 and was once in the running to be Trump’s Treasury Secretary. Marc Rowan is also the CEO of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest private equity firms in the world, and sits on Trump’s Board of Peace—officially the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza’s executive board.

That board also includes the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; real estate developer turned United States special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff; and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair—yes, that Tony Blair, the one with the Iraq War baggage.

That's the crew tasked with "stabilizing" Gaza.

According to the White House, “[e]ach executive board member will oversee a defined portfolio critical to Gaza’s stabilization and long-term success, including, but not limited to, governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization.” The White House added that “the board will help support effective governance and the delivery of best-in-class services that advance peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of Gaza.”

That's the theory, anyway.

As we covered last week, that matters for Indiana because Apollo Global is the private equity manager for a considerable portion of Indiana's public pension funds. And the Secretary of State's office oversees securities regulation and thus has direct authority over the kinds of investment firms that manage Hoosiers' retirement money.

So when the CEO of a firm holding Indiana pensions cuts a $25,000 check to a candidate for the office that regulates his industry, that's not just a donation. That's an investment with an expected return.

The Kentucky Connection

Even out-of-state political machines are getting involved.

The “In This Together PAC“ donated $10,000 to Beau Bayh on February 27, 2026. This PAC was formed by D-KY Governor Andy Beshear who has also publicly maintained a pro-Israel stance. The top donor to the PAC is Andrew Schwartzberg, a known Israel Lobby donor.

The Bottom Line

This is not a random collection of donors. It is what happens when a loose coalition of Zionists—all focused on steering U.S. foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction—converges on a single Indiana race.

And until we get money out of politics, we will continue to have auctions rather than elections.

So here is what we should tell our politicians and prospective candidates…

Not another dollar from the Israel Lobby.
Not another tax dollar spent on human rights abuses.
Not another candidate who puts the interests of a foreign country over Americans.

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https://timpeckforcongress.com/

SUMMARY:

With Indiana’s May 5th primary two days out, the Progressive Indiana Network hosted its final virtual town hall of the primary season, featuring Dr. Tim Peck, emergency physician and Democratic candidate for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District. Peck, who lost the 2024 general election to Republican incumbent Erin Houchin, is making his second run for the seat covering Indiana’s 18 southeastern counties. Over the course of the hour, Peck made the case for a grassroots, no-corporate-PAC campaign rooted in his medical experience, discussing healthcare affordability, the Supreme Court, AI and data centers, the Fifth Circuit’s mifepristone ruling, bipartisan dealmaking, and his evolving view of corporations — closing with a pitch for why this cycle is different from 2024 and how viewers can join his movement before Tuesday.

IN DEPTH:

00:00:21 Opening Remarks

- Scott introduces the show as PIN’s final virtual town hall of the primary season, two days before the May 5th primary

- Peck thanks Scott for the work PIN does to bring educated voters to the polls and introduces himself as an emergency physician living on a farm in Clark County, across the river from Louisville

- Peck frames his campaign around a door-knocking encounter: a constituent who told him “it costs too much to go to work,” citing gas, credit card interest, housing, childcare, student debt, and healthcare premiums

- Peck notes that only six of IN-9’s 18 counties can deliver babies, calling the district a microcosm of rural healthcare collapse

- Peck says he has sworn off all corporate PAC money and has built a movement of 1,000 volunteers who have knocked over 10,000 doors

00:06:02 Viewer Question (Sarah, web form): Will you accept corporate PAC money, and how do you guard against taking it indirectly through leadership PACs?

- Peck says he signed on with roughly 70 candidates nationwide to a pledge covering term limits, no individual stock trading, no corporate PAC money, Supreme Court ethics transparency, and a five-year post-office lobbying moratorium

- Peck defines his pledge broadly: he also refuses dark money PACs and money from Democratic incumbents who themselves take corporate PAC money — including declining a check offer from Rep. Andre Carson

- Peck argues that taking corporate PAC money creates a structural conflict of interest: when Chase Bank calls, you cancel your constituent meeting; without that money, you don’t

- Peck says the national Democratic Party — including the progressive wing — has abandoned Indiana, which actually gives him freedom to run the campaign Hoosiers deserve rather than one dictated by national party strategy

00:12:03 Viewer Question (Christine, YouTube): What type of Democrat do you consider yourself?

- Peck calls himself a left-of-center Democrat with progressive ideals who is willing to work with those who don’t share all of them — distinguishing that from moderation

- Peck says labels obscure more than they reveal; he knocked on a door that same day belonging to a union worker with a Trump yard sign who voted for Trump three times and is now unhappy with him

- Peck argues that working with Republicans isn’t ideological compromise but legislative strategy: there is bipartisan support for things like the PRO Act that simply never gets to the floor because Mike Johnson blocks it

- Scott offers “pragmatic progressive” as a label; Peck says he’ll take it

00:16:13 What do we do about the Supreme Court?

- Peck opposes court expansion, calling it the nuclear option — like eliminating the filibuster, it only empowers whoever holds power at the moment

- Peck’s path forward: pass Amy Klobuchar’s anti-mid-decade gerrymandering bill, enact binding Supreme Court ethics legislation, win the presidency to appoint new justices, and use impeachment only once ethics laws are in place and being violated

- Peck says he does not support using impeachment for messaging purposes, but that Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, and John Roberts cannot be impeached yet because Congress has not yet passed the ethics laws that would make their conduct clearly illegal

- Peck frames the long game: chip away at the structural damage, neutralize the court over time, and focus on winning elections rather than procedural shortcuts

00:22:04 How do you tackle healthcare affordability and get toward universal coverage?

- Peck believes healthcare is a human right but does not think Medicare for All is achievable now, and argues Medicare itself has serious flaws: no dental, vision, or hearing coverage; 20% of recipients still carry medical debt; no long-term care coverage; and lengthy ICU stays can bankrupt patients

- Peck’s plan centers on weakening insurance monopolies through antitrust enforcement: UnitedHealth owns Optum (a physician network), nursing homes, pharmacy benefit managers, and NP groups — Aetna and CVS have merged similarly

- Peck wants to haul insurance executives before Congress and demand an accounting of how much Medicare payroll tax money went to executive bonuses and shareholder payouts

- Peck calls for banning prior authorization (an insurance company making a medical decision) and eliminating pharmacy benefit managers, which he says extract money from the system with no added value — both have bipartisan support

- Peck argues that Citizens United is the real obstacle to full Medicare for All; until corporate money is out of politics, the insurance industry has too much power to be displaced entirely

00:32:21 Viewer Question (Anonymous, web form): Your career has ties to Sam Altman of OpenAI and Joe Lonsdale of Palantir. Your FEC filings show a $2,000 donation from Brian Bloom, VP of Millennium hedge fund. Will your votes on AI and tech policy protect Hoosier working families or will your industry connections sway you?

- Peck says the Bloom donation came from a childhood friend who is a Democrat, not from Millennium as an institution

- Peck focuses on data centers as the most immediate AI policy question: deals are being struck in backrooms, contracts signed, and only then is the public invited to discuss — he calls this insane and in need of regulation

- Peck draws a parallel to Indiana’s casino licensing process, where communities had robust public input and could negotiate community benefits (schools, libraries, a YMCA) before deals closed — data centers should work the same way

- Peck says he is directly affected: a massive Facebook data center is being built in Clark County, his home county, and he has no meaningful say over its electricity or water consumption

00:38:10 Viewer Question (Anonymous, web form): You suggested people use ChatGPT to vet candidates. Where do you stand on AI use and responsible guardrails?

- Peck says he recommended ChatGPT because voters are uninformed — he knocked on doors during early voting and met people who had already cast a ballot without knowing who they voted for in his race; any research tool is better than none, but he stressed using the cited references

- Peck says the incumbent, Erin Houchin, sits on tech and crypto policy committees while taking heavy money from Silicon Valley VCs and voting for maximum deregulation — he wants the opposite

- Peck argues AI should be treated like nuclear energy: even when driven by private industry, technologies that pose existential risks require public ownership of the decision-making process

- Peck says AI development needs to be slowed down and subjected to the same kind of public discourse and regulatory guardrails applied to other civilization-scale technologies

00:43:06 Viewer Question (Ruth, web form): The Fifth Circuit just ruled mifepristone cannot be sent by mail. Does this improve patient safety?

- Peck flatly says no — the “patient safety” rationale from the court is false; mifepristone is a very safe drug, and the program of telemedicine prescribing followed by mail delivery is one he helped build with Planned Parenthood

- Peck says what is actually unsafe is forcing patients to travel great distances, and describes the practical reality in his ER: when a pregnant patient faces a life-or-death situation, his first call legally has to go to a hospital lawyer before he can make a medical decision — that is the government in his exam room

- Peck notes an unusual political wrinkle: pharma companies want the mail program to continue and will spend money fighting the ruling — watch where that money goes

- Peck strongly supports restoring mifepristone access by mail and opposes government interference in medical decision-making

00:46:29 Can you name an issue where you’d vote with Republicans over most Democrats, or with the party over a majority of your constituents?

- Peck says his commitment on rights issues — abortion, LGBTQ — is grounded in the First Amendment and will not waver regardless of constituent polling; those are not negotiating positions

- Peck says working with Republicans is about the pre-floor process: finding issues with genuine bipartisan alignment, doing the work to get a bill to the floor, and then voting on whatever imperfect bill emerges in the best interest of his constituents

- Peck points to universal pre-K as an example of surprising Republican support, including GOP-authored proposals to extend the CBO scoring window to 30 years so the long-term economic benefits become visible

- Peck reiterates the mifepristone situation as a live example: sometimes pharma and the right align with the right outcome, and you take the win

00:51:13 Is there a position you’ve evolved on over the years?

- Peck says his biggest evolution is his view of corporations: he used to think more highly of them, until he personally experienced and came to fully understand that every corporate board charter legally places the shareholder first — above employees, patients, and customers

- Peck says that when push comes to shove, corporations will always revert to what the charter demands, which will not be in the interest of regular people

- Peck agrees with Scott’s framing that government’s role is to set the conditions so that doing the right thing and doing the profitable thing are the same thing — rather than assuming corporations will self-regulate

- Peck credits thousands of one-on-one voter conversations over three and a half years as the source of this evolution

00:54:41 What’s different this time vs. 2024?

- Peck says Houchin beat him by 20+ points in 2024, but frames it as Donald Trump and straight-ticket voting beating him — Houchin’s own name recognition was still only in the 30s–40% range in internal polling

- Peck points to unprecedented Democratic engagement: Jeffersonville drew 2,000 to its last No Kings rally, Corydon drew 700 in a town of 3,000, and similar energy is showing up in Madison, Seymour, and Bloomington

- Peck says soft Trump voters who stayed with him in 2024 — not the core MAGA 30-35% — have begun turning in the last six weeks, with gas prices serving as the final straw for people already stretched by childcare, housing, and healthcare costs

- Peck says the structural difference is the operation: 3.5 years of relationship-building has produced experienced staff, a large individual donor list, 3,000 postcards sent from the lower district to Bloomington voters, and canvassing in four cities simultaneously on the day of this town hall

01:02:07 How can people get involved?

- Peck directs viewers to www.timpeckforcongress.com and the “Join the Movement” tab, where they can sign up to write postcards, knock doors, or find a fellowship

- Door knocking for the primary has ended, but phone banking continues through Election Day Tuesday; Peck says if someone really wants to knock, the campaign will give them literature for their own neighborhood

- Peck gives his personal cell number on air: 812-287-9079, crediting former Congressman Lee Hamilton for the advice to put your real number on your card

- Peck pledges that win or lose on Tuesday, he will continue fighting — if he loses, he will join whatever Democratic movement is growing, because flipping the House is the goal

01:03:24 Closing Remarks

- Scott thanks Peck, wishes him luck Tuesday, and urges all viewers to vote regardless of candidate preference

Thanks again to Dr. Peck for joining us. For more information and to get involved, visit his campaign website at https://timpeckforcongress.com. You can also find him on Facebook and across most social media sites at timpeckforcongress.

Tune in Tuesday night for PIN’s Primary Election Night Special, beginning at 7pm ET | 6pm CT.

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On a Sunday morning just days before Indiana’s 2026 primary, Scott is joined by Fort Wayne state house candidate Sharon Wight and Indianapolis artist and political content creator Fred Miller for a wide-ranging look at a week in which American democracy appeared to be losing on almost every front simultaneously. The show opens with the White House Correspondents Dinner assassination attempt, dissecting both the security failures and the Trump administration’s opportunistic strongman response — from the FCC going after ABC’s broadcast licenses to the DOJ’s second indictment of James Comey, all set against the backdrop of 42 House Democrats handing the administration a blank check for warrantless surveillance. The conversation moves through King Charles’s pointed address to Congress, the ongoing Iran war and its devastating economic fallout for Indiana farmers and drivers, and the Supreme Court’s 6-3 gutting of the Voting Rights Act — a ruling Scott frames as the culmination of Chief Justice Roberts’s 40-year project. The Indiana half of the show covers SNAP cuts alongside Indianapolis becoming a federal food program hub, marijuana legalization signals from Governor Braun, Medicaid work requirement hypocrisy, Indiana’s HIV testing program being quietly shuttered, AI data center fights in Indianapolis and a proposed quarry threatening Fort Wayne’s Eagle Marsh, Mayor Hogsett’s scandal-plagued legacy and a cocaine-on-the-campaign-trail story from a Democratic state senate primary, Indiana’s primary election mechanics and the independent candidacy of Greg Ballard, tornado season and the defunding of the National Weather Service, and a federal mob gambling ring takedown called Operation Porterhouse Parlay with tentacles reaching into organized labor and, potentially, the Indiana Democratic Party.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00:00:34 Introduction and Housekeeping

00:04:18 White House Correspondents Dinner Assassination Attempt

00:11:06 Trump’s Strongman Response: FCC, ABC, and Comey

00:17:20 Political Speech, Self-Censorship, and the Chilling Effect

00:21:01 Trump’s Cult of Personality: Passports, Dollar Bills, and Court Defiance

00:23:04 Mifepristone, FISA 702, and Frank Mrvan

00:29:28 King Charles Addresses Congress

00:35:13 The Iran War: Ceasefire, Troop Withdrawals, and War Powers

00:42:09 Economic Fallout: OPEC, Gas Prices, and Indiana Farmers

00:49:12 National Electoral Landscape: Maine, Virginia, and the Voting Rights Act

00:59:27 The Crossroads: Indianapolis as a SNAP Hub

01:04:43 SNAP Cuts, Christian Nationalism, and Blessings in a Backpack

01:09:24 Marijuana Legalization in Indiana

01:16:14 Medicaid Work Requirements and the HIV Testing Program

01:23:52 AI Data Centers, the Irvington Forum, and the Fort Wayne Quarry

01:32:59 Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett’s Record and the Marion County Machine

01:37:06 Election Reform and Greg Ballard’s Independent Run

01:40:44 Indiana Primary Preview: Republican Senate Infighting and a Democrat’s coked-up canvassing misadventure

01:45:54 Tornado Season and the Defunding of the National Weather Service

01:49:39 Operation Porterhouse Parlay: Gambling, Organized Labor, and Lake County Democrats

01:56:43 Closing and Guest Plugs

IN DEPTH:

WHCD Shooting

• Suspect charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at press dinner (Guardian)

  • Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance CA, charged with attempted presidential assassination, firearms transport, and unlawful discharge — first charge carries potential life sentence.

  • Armed with shotgun, pistol, and three knives; shot one officer in the chest (vest saved him); Allen was tackled before reaching the ballroom where Trump, Vance, Hegseth, and Rubio were attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

  • Manifesto sent to family before attack called Trump “a pedophile, rapist, and traitor” and listed administration officials as targets “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest” — Patel notably excluded.

  • Allen traveled by train from California, checked into the Washington Hilton as a guest, and has no prior criminal record; motive not yet established, not cooperating with investigators.

• WHCD shooting exposed MAGA media’s secret social media operation (Salon)

  • Within minutes of the attack, MAGA officials and influencers — Todd Blanche, Pam Bondi, Mike Johnson — all independently arrived at the same conclusion: Trump needs his $400 million White House ballroom. The speed and uniformity was the tell.

  • A former MAGA influencer claims the messaging was coordinated through group chats, including one called “Fight Fight Fight” — her account aligns with what was observable in real time.

  • The same machinery then pivoted to manufacturing outrage: Ben Stiller’s Knicks victory post and AOC’s condemnation of violence were both reframed as pro-assassination messaging.

  • Meanwhile 300,000 posts claiming the attack was “staged” appeared on X by Sunday midday — a hall of mirrors where coordinated MAGA messaging on one side met conspiratorial pattern-seeking on the other.

• Reporters covered the correspondents’ dinner shooting in real time. Conspiracy theories still spread (AP)

  • Staged shooting conspiracy theories flooded the internet within minutes despite hundreds of professional journalists live-reporting from the scene — facts didn’t prevent the rumors, they just gave people breadcrumbs to misinterpret.

  • Key fuel for the theories: Leavitt’s pre-dinner “shots fired” quip, Vance being escorted out first, and MAGA’s instant pivot to the ballroom agenda.

  • University of Maryland researcher Jen Golbeck: conspiracy theories thrive not despite available information but because of it — the flood of contradictory real-time updates pushes people toward simplified narratives.

  • Emily Vraga, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies political misinformation, said that sometimes more information is not necessarily better, especially in such a polarized time when people can pick and choose the facts they like and assemble their own narrative puzzles: “Meaning doesn’t have to be tied to reality.”

Fascism Watch

• Trump lashes out at ‘60 Minutes’ anchor for reading alleged gunman’s manifesto (Politico)

  • O’Donnell read the shooter’s manifesto aloud — “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes” — and Trump immediately assumed it was directed at him, volunteering “I’m not a rapist” and “I’m not a pedophile” before anyone said it was about him.

  • O’Donnell hadn’t mentioned Epstein; Trump brought the association himself, then declared he’d been “totally exonerated.”

  • Trump called O’Donnell “horrible people” and “a disgrace” for reading a public court document into the record — a notable response from a president who had just expressed solidarity with the press corps who’d shared the panic with him hours earlier.

• Deranged Trump Rants Edited Out of 60 Minutes Interview After Shooting (TNR)

  • CBS’s 60 Minutes aired a heavily edited version of Trump’s post-WHCD shooting interview, cutting his claim that the No Kings protests are funded “just like the SPLC was funded” to finance the KKK — and his assertion that Charlottesville was a “Southern Law deal” staged to make him look bad, at an event where actual neo-Nazis marched.

  • Also cut: an incoherent answer connecting transgender issues, men in women’s sports, and emptying mental institutions to explain why people want to assassinate him.

  • Trump falsely claimed CBS paid him $38 million in their settlement — the actual figure was $16 million to his presidential library, not to him personally.

  • Decoding Fox News’ framing: the edits don’t protect Trump — they actually obscure how incoherent the unedited answers were.

• Melania Trump calls for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired after ‘expectant widow’ joke in WHCD skit (Politico)

  • Trump and Melania both called for ABC to fire Jimmy Kimmel Monday over a pre-shooting parody monologue in which he joked Melania had “a glow like an expectant widow” — a joke delivered two days before the WHCD shooting.

  • “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America,” she said in a statement Monday. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”

  • The jokes were part of a fake WHCD monologue Kimmel recorded Thursday; the actual dinner hired a mentalist, not a comedian, this year.

  • Kimmel’s show was already briefly pulled by Sinclair and Nexstar last September after comments about Charlie Kirk’s killing — the FCC, which has been threatening broadcaster licenses under Trump, didn’t respond to comment requests.

  • The pressure campaign fits a pattern: Trump has long targeted late-night hosts, and FCC chair Brendan Carr has been actively exploring ways to strip licenses from networks critical of the president.

• FCC orders early license renewal for ABC stations following Kimmel’s first lady joke (NPR)

  • FCC ordered Disney/ABC to file early license renewals for its 8 TV stations within 30 days — licenses not due until 2028 — directly after Trump and Melania called for Kimmel’s firing over the “expectant widow” joke.

  • FCC chair Carr didn’t mention Kimmel specifically, instead citing Disney’s DEI policies — thin cover for what the lone Democratic commissioner called “the most egregious First Amendment violation this FCC has taken to date.”

  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “The FCC has just pulled out a sword to hang over every single news organization in America.”

  • First Amendment attorney Andrew Schwartzman: Carr “knows full well he lacks any legitimate legal basis” — this is harassment designed to intimidate, not regulation; the process could take years and ultimately cost broadcasters their licenses.

• Leavitt threatens press freedom in press conference (Heather Delaney Reese)

  • Leavitt returned from the start of maternity leave to deliver a press conference arguing that calling Trump a fascist is “indistinguishable” from the shooter’s manifesto — using the legal term “slander” deliberately, laying groundwork for treating political dissent as actionable.

  • She read a list of Democratic officials by name — Jeffries, Warren, Schiff, Shapiro, and others — with decontextualized quotes attached, handing a target list to the most radicalized Trump supporters while making no mention of Trump’s own years of “vermin,” “enemies of the state,” and January 6th rhetoric.

  • Jeffries fired back directly: “This so-called White House press secretary wants to lecture America about civility — get lost and clean up your own house” — noting that a pardoned January 6th insurrectionist had already threatened to kill him.

  • The author’s framing: this is the administration’s Reichstag moment — using a violent incident to criminalize dissent, in the same playbook used by authoritarian regimes historically. Worth presenting as one perspective, but a sharp one grounded in documented facts.

• Trump’s picture is coming to some U.S. passports (NBC)

  • Trump’s image and gold signature will appear in a limited-edition U.S. passport issued for the 250th anniversary — the State Department couldn’t confirm whether a sitting president has ever appeared in a passport before.

  • The commemorative passport was exclusively reported by Fox News before the State Department announced it — a tell about who the audience is.

  • All the Things Trump Has Put His Name and Face on as President (Time)

    • Trump’s name or face now appears on: passports, dollar bills, gold coins, national park passes, federal agency banners, the Kennedy Center, the Institute of Peace, battleships, a prescription drug website (TrumpRx.gov), and baby investment accounts — a branding campaign that would make a dictator blush.

    • Several of these are facing legal challenges: the Kennedy Center rename, the national park pass design, and the Institute of Peace takeover are all in court.

    • The national parks service updated its policy to invalidate passes with stickers covering Trump’s face — a response to park enthusiasts protesting by covering his image.

    • Historical footnote: this isn’t new behavior — Trump put his name on COVID stimulus checks during his first term too.

• Trump flouts lower court rulings in unprecedented display of executive power (AP)

  • AP review: Trump administration found violating court orders in at least 31 lawsuits in 15 months — about 1 in 8 cases where courts blocked its actions — plus 250+ violations in individual immigration cases; legal scholars say prior administrations averaged a few violations per full term.

  • Higher courts sided with the administration in nearly half the 31 cases, which critics say is actively rewarding noncompliance — Justice Sotomayor in dissent: “Each time this Court rewards noncompliance, it further erodes respect for courts and the rule of law.”

  • Judges have been scathing: one called the administration “ham-handed” for trying to “bully the states,” another accused DOJ of “hallucinating new text” in court orders to achieve preferred outcomes.

  • Georgetown constitutional scholar: “The federal government should be the institution most devoted to the rule of law. When it ceases to feel itself bound, respect for the rule of law is likely to break down across the country.”

• Court restricts abortion access across the US by blocking the mailing of mifepristone (NPR)

  • The 5th Circuit blocked mifepristone from being mailed or prescribed via telemedicine, requiring in-person dispensing only — a ruling that restricts abortion access in every state, including those where it remains legal.

  • Mail-order mifepristone had become the primary workaround for abortion access since Dobbs, including to women in ban states — this ruling effectively closes that route while the Supreme Court appeal plays out.

  • The ACLU: rural communities, low-income people, domestic violence survivors, and people with disabilities will bear the heaviest burden.

  • The Supreme Court unanimously preserved mifepristone access in 2024 but dodged the core issues on standing — Danco Laboratories has already asked the Court for emergency relief, setting up a direct rematch.

• Former FBI Director James Comey indicted over alleged ‘threat’ against Trump (CNN)

  • Trump’s DOJ indicted James Comey for posting a beach photo of seashells spelling “8647” — legal experts call it an almost certain loser, as prosecutors must prove Comey “knowingly and willfully” threatened the president’s life over an ambiguous shell formation he deleted the same day.

  • This is the second Comey indictment — the first, for lying to Congress, was thrown out because the prosecutor was improperly appointed; the pattern of repeated prosecution is itself grounds for a selective prosecution challenge.

  • First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh: “This is not going anywhere. This is clearly not a punishable threat.”

  • Separately, a judge allowed Comey’s daughter Maurene’s wrongful termination lawsuit to proceed — she was fired two weeks after winning a conviction against Diddy, and alleges it was retaliation for being her father’s daughter. She had also led the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell.

• 42 House Democrats Join GOP in Passing Warrantless Mass Surveillance Bill (Truthout)

  • House passed a clean FISA Section 702 extension 235-191 with 42 Democrats crossing over — no warrant requirement, no meaningful reforms, a three-year blank check for warrantless surveillance of Americans’ communications.

  • 22 Republicans voted against it; the 42 Democrats who voted for it provided the margin — civil liberties groups called it “dangerous and shameful,” noting Democratic leadership didn’t even whip against it.

  • The bill is expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate, where Republicans need Democratic votes and the bill includes a central bank digital currency ban that complicates passage.

  • The stakes: Section 702 has already been used to spy on BLM protesters, members of Congress, journalists, and campaign donors — and nothing in this bill would prevent that from happening again under an administration that calls political opponents “enemies within.”

  • One of the 42 was Indiana’s Frank Mrvan (D-IN1)

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Royal Visit

• White House makes ‘two Kings’ post with photo of Trump, King Charles (The Hill)

  • The White House posted a photo of Trump and King Charles captioned “two Kings” — the same week Trump told 60 Minutes “I’m not a King” and blamed “No Kings” protesters for inspiring the WHCD shooter.

  • The contradiction is complete: Trump simultaneously denies being a king, blames anti-monarchy protesters for political violence, and then lets his own White House call him one next to an actual monarch.

• King Charles draws cheers and applause with reference to ‘checks and balances’ on the power of the president in address to Congress (Independent)

  • King Charles addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday and delivered a pointed defense of separation of powers, independent judiciary, and checks on executive authority — drawing standing ovations from both parties — hours after the White House posted content promoting Trump as an American “King.”

  • Without naming Trump, Charles noted the Magna Carta has been cited 160 times by the U.S. Supreme Court as “the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances” — the chamber erupted.

  • Standing feet from JD Vance, Charles called for “unyielding resolve” in defense of Ukraine — Vance has boasted of cutting off all U.S. funding to Kyiv.

  • Charles also praised NATO as essential to transatlantic security and announced Britain’s biggest sustained defense spending increase since the Cold War — a direct rebuttal to Trump calling the alliance a “paper tiger.”

Iran War/Military

• Iran offers to reopen Strait of Hormuz if US lifts its blockade and the war ends, officials say (AP)

  • Trump called off his envoys’ trip to Pakistan last Saturday, then claimed Iran sent a “much better” proposal afterward — suggesting he may be using walkouts as a negotiating tactic, or that the trips are more theater than diplomacy.

  • Iran’s counter-offer: reopen the strait and end the war in exchange for lifting the U.S. blockade — but nuclear program discussions pushed to a later date, which Rubio immediately ruled out.

  • Iran’s foreign minister met Putin in St. Petersburg Monday, where Putin praised Iran’s “heroic” resistance; Iran is also trying to persuade Oman to support a toll collection mechanism for strait passage.

  • Trump says he’s ‘not satisfied’ with Iran’s proposal to end the war (AP)

    • Trump rejected Iran’s latest proposal Friday almost as soon as it was delivered, saying “I’m not satisfied” without elaborating — negotiations continue by phone after he called off his envoys’ Pakistan trip last week.

    • Trump framed the choice bluntly: “Do we want to go and just blast the hell out of them and finish them forever? Or do we want to try and make a deal? Those are the options.”

    • Iran’s foreign minister spent Friday calling regional counterparts — Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Azerbaijan — to build support for his country’s proposal, signaling Iran is working to broaden its diplomatic backing.

• Takeaways from Hegseth’s first hearings in Congress since the start of Iran war (AP)

  • Claude responded: Hegseth’s first congressional appearance since the war began: $25 billion spent so far, 13 Americans killed, 400+ injured, the strait still closed, Iran still …

  • Hegseth’s first congressional appearance since the war began: $25 billion spent so far, 13 Americans killed, 400+ injured, the strait still closed, Iran still has enriched uranium — and lawmakers expect the real cost estimate is closer to $100 billion.

  • Hegseth called congressional critics “the biggest adversary we face” — while tacitly admitting the war has far outlasted Trump’s original “few weeks” promise.

  • The school strike that killed 165 people including children is still “under investigation” — Hegseth called it “an unfortunate situation” after Democrats noted he cut the civilian casualty prevention division by 90%.

  • Even some Republicans broke ranks: Sen. Joni Ernst rebuked Hegseth for forcing out Army Chief Gen. Randy George, who pulled the Army out of its worst recruiting crisis since Vietnam — Hegseth’s only explanation was “we needed new leadership.”

• Trump administration says its war in Iran has been ‘terminated’ before 60-day deadline (AP)

  • Trump administration declared the Iran war “terminated” for War Powers Resolution purposes — arguing the ceasefire paused the 60-day clock, which expired Friday, allowing them to avoid seeking congressional authorization.

  • Legal experts call it unprecedented: “Nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated” — Sen. Kaine called Hegseth’s argument “very novel” with “certainly no legal support.”

  • Even Sen. Susan Collins voted to end the military action, saying “that deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement” and demanding a clear mission and defined exit strategy.

  • One hawkish think tank adviser’s workaround: just declare a new operation called “Epic Passage” focused on reopening the strait — which would reset the 60-day clock entirely.

• Hegseth orders withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Germany (Politico)

  • Pentagon ordered withdrawal of 5,000 of 38,000 U.S. troops from Germany — announced Friday, two days after Trump floated it on social media, surprising Pentagon officials who hadn’t heard of it before his post.

  • The move is retaliation for European allies’ limited support for the Iran war, not the result of any strategic review — the Pentagon’s own global posture review earlier this year did not call for European withdrawals.

  • A former Republican national security adviser warned the pullback primarily benefits Russia, not the U.S., by weakening deterrence and Mediterranean power projection.

Economic Fallout

• UAE’s shock OPEC exit: What it means for the oil cartel’s future and for crude prices (CNBC)

  • The UAE quit OPEC last Friday — a direct consequence of Iran’s missile and drone attacks on UAE shipping and infrastructure, though Abu Dhabi didn’t officially attribute the exit to the war.

  • The UAE was OPEC’s second most important member; together with Saudi Arabia it controlled most of the world’s 4+ million barrels per day of spare capacity — its departure leaves the cartel “structurally weaker” and undermines Saudi Arabia’s ability to manage the organization.

  • Short term the exit changes little with the strait closed, but long term it’s bearish for oil: when the strait reopens the UAE is expected to pump at maximum capacity without OPEC constraints, potentially flooding a recovering market.

• Oil price tops $126 a barrel after Trump warns Iran blockade could last ‘months’ (Guardian)

  • Brent crude hit $126 a barrel Thursday — highest since 2022, up 13% in 24 hours — after Trump told oil executives the blockade could last “months if needed” and described Iran as “choking like a stuffed pig.”

  • Markets are abandoning hope for a quick diplomatic resolution; bond yields in Japan, Germany, and the UK hit multi-decade highs as stagflation fears spread globally.

  • Economist Paul Krugman: “A full-on global recession is more likely than not if the strait remains closed for another three months” — which he called “all too possible.”

  • Without resolution, analysts warn prices could approach the all-time 2008 record of $147 — Iran has already predicted $200 oil.

• Spirit Airlines goes out of business after 34 years, ceases operations immediately (PBS)

  • Spirit Airlines shut down Saturday after 34 years, canceling all flights effective immediately and leaving 17,000 employees out of work overnight — passengers showed up at airports to find no one there.

  • The Trump administration’s proposed bailout never materialized; Transportation Secretary Duffy’s explanation: “We often times don’t have half a billion dollars laying around” — this from an administration that just called for $1.5 trillion in Pentagon spending.

  • The White House blamed Biden for blocking the JetBlue merger in 2023; a Cato Institute analyst fired back that Trump’s decision to bomb Iran drove jet fuel prices through the roof and finished Spirit off — “a compounding effect in terms of policy.”

  • United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest are offering $200 one-way flights for stranded Spirit passengers with proof of purchase — cold comfort for the 17,000 workers who set their alarms for 3 a.m. to find out if they still had jobs.

• Indiana leads the US with 84 cent jump in gas prices (FOX59)

  • Indiana led the nation in week-over-week gas price increases — up to an average of $4.78, with prices hitting $4.99 at some stations — compounded by the BP Whiting Refinery going unexpectedly offline on top of the Iran war price spike.

  • Braun’s sales tax suspension expires May 8 and covers only the 17-cent sales tax — not the 36-cent excise tax, which he says he won’t touch because it funds infrastructure, meaning Hoosiers are still paying Indiana’s top-five-highest gas tax burden regardless.

• Price spikes stressing Indiana corn, soybean farmers (Axios)

  • Indiana farmers are getting squeezed from both sides: diesel up to $5.25 from $3.60 a year ago, fertilizer near peak levels, while corn sits in the mid-$4 range and soybeans under $12 — near or below break-even.

  • Purdue ag economist: the gap between optimistic livestock farmers and struggling crop farmers is the widest he’s seen in a decade of monthly surveys.

  • The Iran war didn’t create the farm crisis but it’s accelerating it — and if high costs persist into fall, fewer Indiana corn acres get planted in 2027.

  • The political question hanging over all of it: Indiana farmers overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2024 — will they still feel that way in November?

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Elections

• Janet Mills drops out of race for US Senate (Maine Public)

  • Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the Senate race Friday, citing lack of funds — handing the Democratic primary to oyster farmer and combat veteran Graham Platner, who had already lapped her in polling and fundraising.

  • Platner is a genuine insurgent: 60+ town halls, large crowds, no establishment backing initially — and he survived a tattoo controversy and attack ads from Mills without losing ground.

  • The DSCC, Schumer, Gillibrand, and the DNC all immediately endorsed Platner, giving the outsider the institutional backing he needs to take on Collins in November.

  • Republicans are already running a scorched earth operation — $68 million in ads booked for the general, 70% from Republican groups, with a $2 million corporate PAC already hitting Platner on old social media posts.

• Virginia weighs legality of new congressional map favoring Democrats that could reshape US House (Guardian)

  • Virginia Supreme Court heard arguments Monday on whether to invalidate the voter-approved redistricting amendment — focusing on whether Democrats violated procedural rules by voting on the amendment while early voting was already underway.

  • The core legal question: does “election” mean the single Tuesday of voting, or the entire early voting period — a distinction that could determine whether four Democratic House seats live or die.

  • The national tit-for-tat context: Republicans think they net up to 9 seats from Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio redraws; Democrats think they net up to 10 from California, Utah and Virginia — Virginia’s legal outcome could tip the balance.

  • Florida’s DeSantis has called a special legislative session starting Tuesday to redraw congressional maps — potentially canceling out Virginia’s gains before the court even rules.

• US supreme court ‘demolishes’ Voting Rights Act, gutting provision that prevented racial discrimination (Guardian)

  • Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act 6-3 along partisan lines — making it nearly impossible to challenge racial gerrymandering by requiring plaintiffs to prove intentional discrimination, a standard Congress explicitly rejected when it amended the VRA in 1982.

  • The practical effect: states can now draw maps that dilute Black voting power as long as they claim partisan rather than racial motivation — Obama called it permission to gerrymander “under the guise of partisanship rather than explicit racial bias.”

  • Kagan in dissent: “Today’s decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter” — and warned that majority-Black districts across the South now “exist only on sufferance, and probably not for long.”

  • Trump told reporters states should redraw their maps in response to the ruling: “I would” — setting up a potential mid-decade scramble to eliminate minority-majority districts before November.

• The Supreme Court’s Death Blow Against Voting Rights Is the Culmination of John Roberts’s 50-Year Crusade (The Nation)

  • The Nation’s reporting on Roberts’ National Archives files shows he was the primary architect of Reagan’s opposition to the VRA’s effects test in 1982 — scripting Reagan’s statements, writing talking points, and driving the policy fight — then told Congress at his 2005 confirmation hearing he was merely “a 26-year-old staff lawyer” following orders.

  • Roberts’s 1982 memos used the same “quota system” framing that became Wednesday’s majority opinion — the through-line from Reagan’s DOJ to the Supreme Court’s ruling is 40 years in the making, written by the same person.

  • The lesson Roberts took from losing in 1982: don’t fight it in Congress, change the judges — “You didn’t need 60 senators or 218 representatives. Five like-minded conservatives would be enough — and now they would have six.”

  • Former Sen. Feingold, who questioned Roberts at his confirmation: “I don’t think any of us felt that he was really going to try and undermine the Voting Rights Act. Then he did.”

• Supreme Court ruling will reshape American politics. The only question is when (AP)

  • Florida is the only state with a clear path to mid-decade gains from the ruling — DeSantis had the special session pre-planned, the legislature approved a new map Wednesday, and the primary isn’t until August; the map could net Republicans four seats.

  • Most other Republican states face primary calendar obstacles — Louisiana’s early voting starts Saturday, Georgia’s primary is May 19, Tennessee’s candidate filing deadline was March 10 — making immediate redraws legally treacherous.

  • Longer term the VRA ruling reshapes the entire political map: more than a dozen majority-minority Democratic seats in Republican-controlled states are now vulnerable, with political scientists calling the VRA “essentially dead” as a tool against vote dilution.

  • Democrats have one counter-move: spread minority voters across more districts in states they control rather than concentrating them — but that faces internal resistance from Black and Hispanic representatives who want to preserve majority-minority districts.

• Louisiana suspends House primaries as red states face pressure to redistrict (WaPo)

  • Louisiana Gov. Landry suspended the state’s May 16 House primary elections — with early voting set to start Saturday and ballots already mailed to overseas voters — so the legislature can redraw the map eliminating the majority-Black district first.

  • Rep. Cleo Fields, whose district was ruled unlawful, called it “the wrong move” and said voters’ fundamental rights shouldn’t be “sacrificed for a rushed political agenda.”

  • UCLA election law professor Richard Hasen called it “naked partisanship” — then noted that under the current Supreme Court’s approach, “naked partisanship is more of a defense than an indictment.”

  • A lower-court order still bars Louisiana from changing its map, and legal challenges are expected — voting rights groups that have already run radio ads and billboards for Saturday’s early voting say erasing those votes mid-election is unconstitutional.

• Southern GOP states scramble to redraw maps after ruling gutting Voting Rights Act (CNS)

  • Florida already had its new maps ready — the legislature passed them the same day as the ruling, awaiting DeSantis’s signature, designed to flip up to four Democratic-leaning seats by reducing minority-opportunity districts.

  • Alabama reversed course Friday and called a special session for May 4, just two weeks before its primary — the National Redistricting Foundation called it “a head-spinning reversal of precedent” and filed to block it at the Supreme Court.

  • Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee are all making noise but haven’t called special sessions yet — South Carolina’s GOP leaders say their map is already optimized and they don’t need one.

  • UCLA’s Rick Hasen on the long game: “It’s just a matter of time that southern states are going to dismantle some, if not many, or all of their districts that were required to give minority voters representation” — with the full impact likely felt in 2028 and 2030.

Crossroads

• USDA confirms SNAP hub will move to Indianapolis (ICC)

  • USDA confirmed Indianapolis will become one of five national hubs for the new Food and Nutrition Administration, relocating SNAP program offices from Washington as part of a broader agency reorganization affecting 2,600 employees.

  • Sen. Jim Banks led the pitch to USDA Secretary Rollins last year — Braun and Banks are both claiming credit for landing the hub.

  • The agency says SNAP and other nutrition programs serving 42 million Americans will continue without disruption, but hasn’t confirmed how many employees will actually relocate to Indianapolis or when.

  • Worth watching: this is a massive reorganization of the agency that administers SNAP during a period of federal workforce disruption — “no disruption” assurances from the same administration that has repeatedly disrupted federal agencies deserve scrutiny.

  • Irony: Indiana SNAP Work Rules Could Cut Food Aid (inkFreeNews)

    • New federal SNAP work requirements will affect about 12,000 Indiana recipients who must now report work hours — with any reduction in hours, even temporary, potentially triggering benefit loss and months of bureaucratic reinstatement.

    • A Hamilton Project analysis found stricter work requirements reduce SNAP participation more than they increase employment — meaning the rules push people off food assistance without getting them jobs.

    • Feeding Indiana’s Hungry director: most SNAP recipients already work or are caregivers or students — the new rules add reporting burden to people already navigating unstable hours and rising grocery prices.

• US House passes ‘skinny’ farm bill that keeps big GOP cuts to food assistance (ICC)

  • House passed a “skinny” farm bill 224-200 that largely punts on major policy — because last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” already made sweeping SNAP cuts, this version mostly just reauthorizes existing programs through 2031.

  • Democrats’ core objection: the bill locks in $187 billion in SNAP cuts from last year’s law without addressing farmer cost pressures from Trump’s tariffs or the Iran war fuel spike — “it is going to make hunger worse,” Rep. McGovern said.

    • House Cements $187 Billion Cut to SNAP—But Hey, Free Chicken! (Mother Jones)

      • Tucked into the Farm Bill: SNAP recipients will finally be able to buy rotisserie chicken with their benefits — the only hot food item added — a genuinely bipartisan win that most Democrats still voted against because accepting it meant accepting $187 billion in SNAP cuts in the same bill.

  • One notable win: an amendment stripped a provision that would have shielded Roundup maker Monsanto from cancer liability lawsuits — it would have mooted a Supreme Court case argued this week.

  • The Senate hasn’t introduced its version yet — and with three years of extensions already behind them, the farm bill is now eight years overdue for a meaningful update.

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Cannabis

• Braun signals openness to marijuana legalization as outside report outlines policy considerations (ICC)

  • Gov. Braun signaled growing openness to marijuana legalization Tuesday, citing Indiana’s border-state reality — 96% of Hoosiers live within a 100-mile drive of a licensed dispensary in another state, and residents are already spending an estimated $1.8 billion annually on marijuana.

  • The Trump administration’s federal rescheduling of medical marijuana this week gave Braun political cover: “I think the fact that the feds made that move, that makes it more likely.”

  • Indiana is one of only 10 states with no medical marijuana law — yet unregulated delta-8 THC and THCA products are “ubiquitous” in the state because legislators have repeatedly failed to ban or regulate them.

  • A new RAND/Fairbanks Foundation study estimates legalization could generate $180 million in annual tax revenue by year five — while the state currently spends $10-20 million a year just on enforcement.

Healthcare

• FSSA hiring 400 employees to monitor Medicaid eligibility ahead of work requirements (ICC)

  • Indiana is hiring 400 employees to conduct eligibility checks on 560,000 Healthy Indiana Plan members — at least three times more checks than currently required — while FSSA’s own secretary admits the state will save no money from kicking people off.

  • Work requirements take effect Jan. 1, 2027: 80 hours monthly of work, school, job training, or volunteering — with quarterly compliance checks under state law and six-month redeterminations under federal law.

  • The One Big Beautiful Bill shifts SNAP administrative costs from 50% to 75% state-funded starting October 2026 — an unexpected $37 million hit to Indiana’s budget in fiscal year 2027, rising to $50 million annually.

  • “This is not your doctor’s job, to keep you eligible. It is not the hospital’s job. It is not the health plan’s job to keep you eligible. It is not even FSSA’s job to keep you eligible,” Roob added. “It is the recipient’s responsibility. It is their personal responsibility.”

• Indiana to sunset HIV outreach program amid federal funding cuts (ICC)

  • Indiana is shutting down its Special Populations Support Program on June 30 — eliminating HIV testing and outreach in addiction treatment settings that conducted 4,575 tests in 2024 alone — after a $6.7 million drop in federal ARPA pandemic funding.

  • The program specifically targets people with substance use disorders, the unhoused, and the incarcerated — populations unlikely to seek testing in traditional medical settings and at highest risk for transmission.

  • Marion County Public Health’s chief medical officer: “The longer someone goes untested, the more likely they are to spread the virus unknowingly because treatment is delayed.”

  • The state says HIV treatment won’t be affected — but public health experts are uniform that testing is the entry point to treatment, and without it, new infections go undiagnosed for years.

Development

• Eastside data center developer faces questions about project (Mirror Indy)

  • DC BLOX, a Georgia-based developer, held a community forum in Irvington seeking buy-in for a $2 billion data center campus on the east side — near Irvington Community Elementary School and the Pennsy Trail — with about 150 skeptical residents showing up.

  • The developer is using the variance-not-rezoning strategy that Decatur Township residents are currently fighting in court, bypassing the full City-County Council vote that killed Google’s Franklin Township data center last year.

  • Residents’ core objections: proximity to an elementary school, diesel generator testing, tax abatements for a $2 billion project, and a developer that by its own admission doesn’t know the community yet.

  • The Metropolitan Development Commission hearing is June 11 — and at least one resident summed up the room: “They’re gonna tell you whatever they can to get this thing done.”

  • Recall: Indianapolis proposes data center zoning rules, but critics say protections fall short (WFYI)

    • Indianapolis released draft data center zoning rules: 200-foot residential buffer, 65-decibel noise cap, generator testing banned 5 p.m.–7 a.m.

    • Critics say the rules are too weak — no meaningful limits near schools or parks, diesel generators still allowed, clear pathway for more development.

    • City leadership won’t consider a moratorium; Osili: “We are not a city that will be banning something like infrastructure.”

• Inskeep: Google won’t pay for transmission upgrades after all

  • AES Indiana will add a profit margin on top of the $73.8 million figure, so the total cost will be higher.

  • The latest filing calls into question Google and AES Indiana claims about its data centers paying their fair share.

  • Check out the docket: https://iurc.portal.in.gov/docketed-case-details/?id=863a591f-643e-f111-88b3-001dd80673f1

  • Recall: AES, Google say partnership will save customers $770 million (FOX59)

    • Google says it will pay all costs for its Monrovia data center’s electricity and new infrastructure under a deal filed with state regulators — protecting AES Indiana’s 533,000 existing customers from footing the bill.

    • The projected savings: $8/month per customer in avoided rate increases over 15 years, enabled by HEA 1007, Indiana’s 2025 law requiring large new customers to cover their own energy costs.

    • IURC ruling expected September 2026 — the outcome sets the template for every data center energy deal that follows.

• Quarry developer holds information meeting, seeks to answer all concerns (WANE)

  • US Aggregates and Indianapolis-based Heritage Group held a packed public meeting in Fort Wayne Wednesday to address community concerns about a proposed quarry in southwest Allen County — with residents making clear they intend to fight it.

  • Key concerns: blasting vibrations, truck traffic on residential streets, groundwater impacts (the quarry will extend below the water table), air quality from a proposed adjacent asphalt plant, and effects on nearby Eagle Marsh and Fox Island County Park.

  • Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker came out against the project Thursday, saying it isn’t “a good fit for the area” — though the city has no jurisdiction since the site is outside city limits, leaving the decision to Allen County.

Elections

• Indy Mayor Joe Hogsett weighs a fourth term, amid scandals and project delays (IndyStar)

  • Hogsett refused to rule out a fourth term despite explicitly promising a “third and final term” in 2022 — and having called for two-term limits during his 2015 campaign — saying downtown development projects “tug at his heartstrings” and he’ll decide by end of year.

  • His unfinished business list is more unfinished than finished: old City Hall deal collapsed this month, City Market delayed until at least 2028 after cutting ties with developers, MLS stadium stalled, downtown heliport going nowhere — of the major 2022 capstone promises, only the jail redevelopments are on track.

  • The scandals complicate the legacy math: the IndyStar/Mirror Indy “Mr. Clean” investigation exposed his former chief of staff cashing in on millions in city incentives overseen by a city official he was romantically involved with, plus a pattern of no-bid contracts to former staffers and campaign donors.

  • A UIndy political scientist says Hogsett’s political capital has been “really weakened” — and keeping the fourth-term door open is itself a power move, letting him maintain leverage over three Democrats already running: City-County Councilor Vop Osili, state Sen. Andrea Hunley, and DPW official David Bride.

  • Hogsett ended 2025 with $1.2 million in the bank — not the war chest of someone who’s definitely done.

• Marion County sheriff’s candidate accused of ‘shady tactics’ (Mirror Indy)

  • A flyer for Marion County sheriff candidate Kelvis Williams falsely implied six Democrats — including party chair Myla Eldridge and county clerk Kate Sweeney Bell — form an “official Democratic team” endorsed by the Marion County party, which dropped slating in 2023.

  • Williams initially said he had the candidates’ permission, then recanted — none of the candidates contacted said they agreed to be on the flyer.

  • The mailer is fracturing alliances: at least one voter who planned to support Williams switched to opponent Gregory Patrick after seeing it, and Prosecutor Ryan Mears — who endorsed Williams — is blaming Bell and calling it “shady misleading tactics.”

  • The broader subtext: the mailer looks like old-guard slating tactics from an era the party officially abandoned, and it’s reigniting tensions between Marion County’s establishment Democrats and reformers heading into Tuesday’s primary.

• Secretary of state candidate Ballard knocks Indiana’s primary system (ICC)

  • Ballard is calling for Indiana’s two major parties to start paying for their own primaries — pointing out that taxpayers spent $13.3 million running the 2024 primaries for parties that restrict who can even participate in them.

  • The current system requires candidates to have voted in their party’s last two primaries or get county chair approval — Ballard calls it “broken” and inaccessible to everyday Hoosiers.

  • Ballard is still collecting the 37,000 voter signatures needed just to get on the November ballot — a barrier that itself illustrates his point about the system favoring the two major parties.

• Trump’s Indiana redistricting revenge aims to topple state Senate’s leader (ICC)

  • Trump’s redistricting war on Indiana’s Republican Senate isn’t really about the seven senators facing challengers — it’s about toppling Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, who doesn’t face election until 2028 but controls the caucus leadership vote before next session.

  • A pledge to vote against Bray for pro tem was a Trump endorsement “litmus test” — one Republican candidate called it “unethical” because “you’re already asking me to sell a vote before I’ve even been elected.”

  • The spending is staggering for state legislative races: pro-redistricting groups have put in $5 million+, including a Banks-affiliated dark money group; Bray has countered with $3.5 million from campaign funds and formed his own dark money nonprofit in March to level the field.

  • Bray on potentially losing his leadership post: “If they choose me again, I’d be honored. If they don’t, I’ll wish the person best of luck” — and on the redistricting fight itself: “What is a little frustrating is that based on a difference of opinion on one issue, just the opposition that has brought.”

• Indiana Senate Candidate Andrew Dezelan Arrested on Drug Charges in Fishers (Avenues Recovery)

  • Democratic SD-31 candidate Andrew Dezelan was arrested Sunday night in Fishers after police found cocaine in his car while he was allegedly canvassing — just days before the May 5 primary.

  • Officers found him canvassing a neighborhood he claimed to have HOA permission to be in, visibly sweating, speaking rapidly, with pinpoint pupils — all noted as signs of drug impairment.

  • He tried to drive away when asked for ID, resisted handcuffing multiple times, and is currently booked in Hamilton County Jail — five days before the primary he’s running in.

  • Dezelan is a former 11-year policy director for the Indiana Senate Democratic Caucus who had made marijuana legalization a campaign priority; he posted “got a new bag of tricks with me for this last stretch” on Instagram shortly before his arrest.

  • He’s one of four Democrats in the primary, including Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal — a race that was already being watched as a potential pickup opportunity in a district Republicans have held for decades.

Climate

• 3 tornadoes strike Indiana counties, causing damage (WISH)

  • Three tornadoes confirmed in Indiana Monday — an EF-1 near Seymour in Jackson County and two in Morgan County southwest of Indianapolis, including an EF-1 and an EF-0 near Mooresville — no injuries reported.

  • Damage included destroyed barns, a damaged home, snapped trees, and 39 utility poles downed or leaning in Jackson County; Morgan County roads remained closed Tuesday morning.

• Indiana confirmed tornadoes 2026 (Indiana Weather Online)

  • 11 as of April 6 plus the three above makes at least 14

  • Annual average of 22

• The past 3 years have each ranked in the Top 5 for tornadoes in Indiana (USNWS Northern Indiana)

Finally This Week

• 22 arrested in Northwest Indiana FBI raids for alleged illegal gambling ring in “Operation Porterhouse Parlay” (CBS)

  • FBI, IRS, and CBP raided two Northwest Indiana restaurants — Gino’s Steakhouse in Merrillville and Paragon Restaurant in Hobart — plus a Schererville home Wednesday, arresting 22 people across seven states in a federal gambling and extortion takedown dubbed “Operation Porterhouse Parlay.”

  • The alleged operation ran from 2021 through this week: online betting sites, phone and text wagering, lines of credit for bettors, and collectors who tracked down and physically threatened people who didn’t pay.

  • The three alleged ringleaders — James “Jimmy the Greek” Gerodemos, Dean “Dean Gem” Gialmas, and Chris Gerodemos — owned the restaurants used to collect and launder money; defendants range in age from 21 to over 80.

  • FBI Indianapolis special agent in charge: “This was not the case of harmless casual gambling — this was coercion, intimidation, and financial exploitation.”

• Muscle for NWI gambling ring chased undercover agent at speeds of 100 mph, feds say (NWI Times)

  • Three weeks before the raids, an undercover FBI agent leaving a meeting with “Jimmy the Greek” Gerodemos was tailed by alleged enforcer Michael Campbell — nicknames “Michael Way Out” and “Chuckie Hoffa” — who crossed three lanes of U.S. 30 at the last second to follow the agent onto I-65.

  • Campbell allegedly drove over 100 mph, weaved through traffic, tailgated surveillance vehicles, and illegally activated emergency amber lights on a union-registered truck — the chase lasted over an hour and reached the Lafayette area while Campbell and Gerodemos stayed in constant phone contact.

  • The incident illustrates exactly what prosecutors mean when they say this wasn’t casual gambling — it was an organized operation with dedicated muscle tracking down anyone who got too close.

• Local 81 Donated $5K to Lake Co. Sheriff Candidate (Tom McDermott - Facebook)

  • Previously: Ex-Lake County, Ind., sheriff John Buncich sentenced to 15 years, 8 months in bribery scheme (ABC 7)

  • Indicted Campbell, LiUNA 81 (Father Mike Sr. is fmr. Local 81 biz manager, brother Corey is current biz manager) have deep ties to Congressman Frank Mrvan, State Senator Rodney Pol, Dem Chair Karen Tallian (Corey was appointed Deputy Party Chair for Labor Relations and it is rumored that he’ll be implicated in labor-mob dealings).

Corydon was once the state capital.
Borden, Fredericksburg, and the surrounding communities are places where people still measure leadership the old-fashioned way—by whether you show up, follow through, and keep your word.

But even in places built on tradition, the pressures are modern.

Housing costs are rising.
Healthcare feels less affordable every year.
Family farms are fighting to survive.
And younger families are wondering if the “American Dream” is still for them.

In this episode, I sat down with John Colburn, a Republican candidate for Indiana State House District 70, to talk about what he believes is driving those frustrations—and why he says the answer starts with making government smaller, not bigger.

John’s message is built around one core idea:

Affordability first.

Not as a slogan, but as the lens for almost every issue—housing, healthcare, taxes, and opportunity.

He talked about how the average age of a first-time homebuyer has jumped dramatically and what that means for younger generations who feel like they’re being priced out of stability before they even get started.

For him, government isn’t fixing that problem.

It’s making it worse.

We spent a lot of time on healthcare, where he made an important distinction between healthcare and health insurance.

His argument is that too much of the system is controlled by middlemen—especially pharmacy benefit managers—and not enough by the actual relationship between patients and doctors.

His focus:
less bureaucracy, fewer intermediaries, and more direct access to affordable care.

We also dug into agriculture and family farms.

🌾 Property taxes remain a major pressure point, especially for older landowners trying to hold onto farms that have been in families for generations.

John took a very clear position here:
he wants to eliminate property taxes entirely for homeowners 65 and older.

His argument is simple:
if you’ve paid for your home, you shouldn’t be paying rent to the government to keep it.

We also talked infrastructure—especially broadband.

In rural Indiana, internet access isn’t a luxury anymore.
It’s school. It’s work. It’s business. It’s daily life.

He sees broadband as nearly as essential as electricity, while also recognizing the challenge of maintaining one of the largest road systems per square mile in the country.

For small businesses, his focus stayed consistent:

Get government out of the way.

As a business owner himself, he talked about insurance audits, unemployment burdens, and the way small businesses often get treated like they have the same margins as giant corporations.

On education, he took aim at administrative growth.

His argument was blunt:
too much money is being tied up in administration and not enough is making it to classrooms or teacher salaries.

He wants fewer administrators and stronger support for teachers.

On mental health, he supported a stronger state role—especially for those struggling with severe illness, homelessness, or access barriers.

And maybe the most interesting part of the conversation came when we talked about party politics.

Even as a Republican in a Republican-led state, John made it clear he doesn’t see party loyalty as the job.

His answer:
“I’m representing the people of District 70. I’m not representing a Republican.”

Then, as always, we put it to the test with Hold ’em or Fold ’em—where positions get clear, fast.

Universal healthcare? Fold.
Raise the minimum wage? Fold.
Corporate PAC money? Hold.
Mental health investment? Hold.
Challenge your own party when needed? “Holds squared.”

Whether you agree with him or not, what came through clearly was this:

He believes Indiana has a spending problem, not a people problem.

And in a district like 70—where voters care more about results than rhetoric—that argument will matter.

Because here, leadership isn’t about flash.

It’s about trust.

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HoosLeft: https://hoosleft.us

Keil Roark: https://www.keilroark.com/

SUMMARY:

With less than a week to go before Indiana’s May 5th primary, Scott Aaron Rogers sits down one-on-one with Keil Roark, one of four Democrats running in Indiana’s 9th Congressional District. Roark — a former UAW assembly line worker, Navy Reserve officer, and Purdue-trained electrical engineer who has worked at Chrysler, Ford, Cummins, and Rolls-Royce — is running as an explicitly moderate candidate, arguing that his working-class background and ability to appeal across party lines makes him the strongest general election contender in this deep-red district. The conversation covers his personal story and motivation for running, the geography and character of the sprawling 9th District, and a look at his economic priorities: increasing wages, congressional stock trading, healthcare (including his skepticism of Medicare for All and his ACA-plus-prevention alternative), wealth inequality and tax reform, trade and reshoring manufacturing, the threat of automation and AI to workers in both blue- and white-collar fields, and the need for federal oversight of AI data centers. Moderate Roark agrees with progressives on this issue: the economic game has been rigged for too long.

WHAT’S INSIDE:

00:00:23 Introduction and upcoming PIN coverage

- Scott previews PIN’s May 5th primary election night broadcast with Derrick Holder, Brianna Newhart, Carlie Dunn, and Kelly Delong

- Announces Sunday PIN Virtual Town Halls with Dr. Tim Peck

- Find us on social media @hoosleft on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube; @hoosleft.us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky; PIN is @progressiveindiananetwork on most social media sites, @PINIndiana on TikTok and BlueSky

00:03:29 Meet Keil Roark: background and biography

- UAW assembly line worker for 8+ years; Navy Reserve officer for 11 years (3 active, 8 reserve)

- Electrical engineer by trade; worked at Chrysler, Ford, Cummins, and Rolls-Royce

- Has taught at Ivy Tech, ITT, and Sullivan; father of four

- Running to serve, not to build a résumé — motivated by financial stress he sees in the community

00:06:04 The 9th District: geography, culture, and Hoosier unity

- The district stretches from Bloomington in the northwest to Clark County near Louisville and Dearborn County near Cincinnati

- Vast rural areas in between — Scott County, Jackson County, Jennings County, Monroe County — with stark cultural differences

- The unifying moment: IU’s 2025 NCAA football championship

00:09:33 Why run? Service, the tax code, and leaving something better behind

- Roark traces a lifelong thread of service: church volunteer work, ESGR work at Camp Atterbury (2007–2010), Navy Reserve

- Flags the $7.25 federal minimum wage and the FICA tax cap (~$180K) as examples of a tax code rigged against working people

- Wants to leave his kids a world with good-paying jobs and real upward mobility

00:16:22 Affordability as the defining issue: union decline and supply chains

- Scott frames the affordability crisis around the concentration of capital; Roark agrees and traces union decline over 50 years

- NAFTA and WTO accelerated outsourcing and gutted union labor

- The CHIPS Act as a rare bipartisan win — bringing semiconductor manufacturing back from Taiwan

- China’s near-monopoly on critical minerals (titanium, etc.) as a parallel supply chain vulnerability

00:22:39 Minimum wage: what we need vs. what we can get

- Federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25 since 2009; Roark says actuarial science puts the right number at $25/hour

- His realistic political target: $15–$18/hour, citing Virginia’s recent $15 passage

- Brief detour into congressional insider trading — Roark supports a No Stock Trade Act and blind trusts for sitting members

00:27:36 Healthcare: ACA reform, prevention, and Medicare for All skepticism

- Roark’s near-term priority: reinstate ACA subsidies, which he says he’d push for on day one

- Proposes adding a preventive care incentive to the ACA — modeled on Japan’s system — offering premium reductions for annual checkups, blood work, dental, exercise

- Not yet sold on Medicare for All: raises concerns about funding, wait times, and specialist access under a universal system

- Scott pushes back: those problems exist now; the real waste, fraud, and abuse is systemic and corporate, not individual

00:37:50 Wealth inequality and tax reform

- Roark calls Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” — cutting Medicaid and SNAP to fund billionaire tax cuts — un-Christian and un-American

- Proposes raising the top income tax rate from ~35% to 45–50% (Scott says that’s not high enough; Roark revises to 55–60%) to account for effective rates billionaires actually pay through borrowing against assets

- Trade reform: supports bringing manufacturing back, criticizes how US consumer spending has effectively subsidized China’s military buildup

00:43:18 Automation, AI, and the future of work

- Scott challenges the “reshore manufacturing” argument: automation means far fewer jobs even if production returns

- Roark’s answer: push workers toward “three-dimensional” skilled trades (electricians, plumbers, millwrights) that robots can’t yet replace, and medical/care jobs (nursing, phlebotomy)

- Supports UBI as a contingency once AI unemployment data warrants it

- Scott extends to the “pink collar” care economy — nurses, home health aides — and argues government must mandate living wages in those fields or face social unrest

00:48:22 AI, the Great Depression, and congressional inaction

- Roark shares his grandfather’s Depression-era stories as a warning about mass unemployment

- Argues Congress is dangerously tech-illiterate; as an electrical engineer he’d push for AI hearings and legislation

- Scott: tech oligarchs have purchased both parties’ silence on automation’s consequences

00:51:49 AI data centers: regulation, transparency, and community value

- Roark calls for AI regulation on labor displacement grounds and on data center siting

- Communities deserve transparency: who’s funding the project, what’s the tax revenue, what’s the value proposition — then let communities vote

- Scott: if they’re built with renewables and closed-loop water systems and actually pay their taxes, maybe; right now they’re just dumping on communities

- Scott mentions Maine’s AI data center moratorium; Roark notes counties are beginning to use moratoriums and state-level abatement controls

00:54:38 Closing: where to find Keil Roark

- Website: keilroark.com

- Accepting last-minute donations and volunteers for sign deployment

- Scott invites Roark back for a general election conversation if he wins the primary

Upcoming Programming

- Sunday, 10:30 a.m.: HoosLeft This Week with guests Fred Miller (songwriter/artist) and Sharon Wight (HD-81 candidate).

- Sunday, 7 p.m.: Final PIN Virtual Town Hall of the primary season with Dr. Tim Peck (IN-9).

- Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m.: PIN Election Night coverage with Scott, Derrick Holder, Brianna Newhart, Kelly DeLong, Carlie Dunn, and guests.

Corydon, once the state capital.
Fredericksburg and Borden, where family names go back generations.
Harrison County, where politics isn’t performance—it’s personal.

But even here, the pressures are modern.

Rising costs.
Healthcare gaps.
Schools stretched thin.
Young people wondering whether they stay… or leave.

In this episode, I sat down with Sarah Blessing, a Democratic candidate for Indiana State House District 70, to talk about what happens when someone decides they’re done waiting for someone else to fix it.

Sarah brings a background rooted in education and community work.

She taught elementary school for nearly two decades. She’s a mother, a local advocate, and the co-founder of Project NEXT—one of the spaces helping push real conversations across Indiana.

And from the start, one thing was clear:

She doesn’t see herself as “Democrat Sarah Blessing.”

She sees herself as someone fighting for her neighbors.

That matters in a district where straight-ticket voting is still common and where trust is earned face-to-face, not through party labels.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation.

🏥 Rural healthcare—and the reality that Harrison County has already lost OB-GYN access, with real concerns about long-term hospital survival.

Sarah made the case that if we don’t fix Medicaid access and make healthcare easier to reach, rural hospitals won’t survive.

🌾 Family farms and land ownership—where big corporate interests, development pressure, and bad environmental policy are making it harder for small farmers to stay afloat.

She also took a strong stand on right to repair, especially for farmers dealing with giant equipment companies like John Deere controlling whether they can fix the equipment they already paid for.

📚 Public education—this is where her passion burns hottest.

She called Indiana’s voucher system exactly what many parents feel it is:
a direct attack on public schools.

As a former teacher, she made it clear that diverting taxpayer dollars away from public schools isn’t just hurting education—it’s hurting communities, culture, and opportunity.

🏛️ Libraries and broadband—something a lot of politicians overlook, but something rural families live every day.

She talked about kids needing library internet just to complete e-learning days, and why protecting libraries means protecting public access, safety, and opportunity.

🧠 Mental health—where she made one of the strongest cases of the night:
mental healthcare shouldn’t be treated like a luxury.

It should be treated like infrastructure.

And maybe the biggest theme of the conversation:

Government has stopped listening to regular people.

Too much influence from lobbyists.
Too many corporate loopholes.
Too many decisions being made for donors instead of districts.

Sarah didn’t sugarcoat that.

She talked openly about the way lobbyists shape legislation, how corporations use Indiana as a testing ground for bad policy, and why elected officials need to stop taking steak dinners and start taking care of constituents.

Then, as always, we put it to the test with Hold ’em or Fold ’em—where the talking points disappear and the positions get clear.

Universal healthcare? Hold.
Raising the minimum wage? Hold.
Union protections? Hold.
Public schools before vouchers? Absolutely hold.

What stood out most wasn’t just the policy.

It was the urgency.

Sarah isn’t running because politics sounds exciting.

She’s running because she sees people being kicked when they’re already down—and she’s tired of it.

And in a district like 70, where people care less about party and more about whether you actually show up…

that might matter more than anything.

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https://progressiveindiana.net

SUMMARY:

Six days out from Indiana’s May 5 primary, Rev. Tony Alexander and Pastor David W. Greene Sr. open the program by responding to the day’s Supreme Court ruling allowing Louisiana to redraw its congressional maps and undoing major parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — a decision both hosts frame not as a legal matter but as a moral one, arguing it effectively dismantles the practical enforcement mechanisms of the civil rights law. They connect the ruling to a broader pattern of voter suppression targeting minorities, women, and immigrants, and make the case that the primary is the most urgent available response. The hosts then shift to Indianapolis’s ongoing data center controversy, criticizing the city’s first Department of Metropolitan Development community listening session as a performative “check the box” exercise that left residents more frustrated than before. In the final segment, Pastor Greene — a candidate for Indiana Senate District 29 — makes his closing pitch to voters in Pike and Wayne Township and the district’s suburban reaches into Boone and Hamilton counties, framing his affordability-first platform as a moral response to Indiana’s $22 billion budget and the federal cuts bearing down on seniors and people with disabilities. The program closes with details on a Souls to the Polls bus effort departing from five Indianapolis churches this Sunday, May 3.

WHAT’S INSIDE

00:00:00 Open / Disclaimer / Station ID

00:00:43 Welcome & Introduction

- Rev. Alexander opens six days out from the Indiana primary; introduces Pastor Greene

- Pastor Greene offers opening prayer

00:02:11 Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling — Overview

- Rev. Alexander summarizes the day’s Supreme Court decision on Louisiana redistricting

- Court ruled maps drawn along racial lines are impermissible but maps drawn along party lines are not

- Pastor Greene frames the ruling as a moral issue, not merely a legal one

- Indiana cited as already ranking near last in voter participation

00:05:24 What the Ruling Means — Urgency for the Primary

- Rev. Alexander argues this is the most critical moment for voters who feel their voice doesn’t count

- Two states had already announced plans to redraw maps within hours of the ruling

- Pastor Greene invokes “the urgency of now”; connects low turnout to political emboldening

00:08:12 Dismantling the Voting Rights Act — The “Third Leg” Argument

- Rev. Alexander describes the ruling as kicking out the third leg of a stool — the Act itself survives but its enforcement mechanisms are gone

- Pastor Greene warns of a return to pre-Voting Rights Act conditions

- Discussion of new documentation requirements targeting women who have changed their names

00:09:54 Who Stands to Lose Voting Rights

- Rev. Alexander tallies affected groups: Black voters, women, immigrants with prior voting rights

- Pastor Greene argues the endgame is a electorate reduced to predominantly white male voters

- Discussion of how manufactured difficulty — lines, documentation, eliminated early voting — functions as suppression

00:12:38 Caller — Guy

- Guy calls in with a historical perspective, noting the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence

- References King Charles’s address to Congress the previous day on checks and balances and the Magna Carta

- Expresses optimism that overreach will backfire, citing Lincoln’s “you can’t fool all of the people all of the time”

- Predicts Congress flips back in the midterms

00:14:58 Response to Caller / Indiana Redistricting Risk

- Rev. Alexander thanks Guy, appreciates his optimism

- Raises prospect of Indiana revisiting its own maps now that Supreme Court has given cover

- Pastor Greene warns Trump will move urgently before November — redistricting, mail-in ballots, early voting all on the table

00:17:20 From “Possible” to “Probable” — Federal Election Infrastructure

- Rev. Alexander upgrades the threat from possible to probable

- Describes White House as effectively drafting model legislation for Republican states to follow

- Predicts a rapid cascade of state-level map challenges heading to the Supreme Court before November

- Pastor Greene argues Trump’s goal is controlling who votes, not just who wins; raises J.D. Ford vs. Victoria Spartz in IN-5 as example of a race that becomes unwinnable without voting access

00:20:00 Executive Order on Mail-in Ballots / Break Tease

- Rev. Alexander describes Trump’s executive order directing the post office to control mail ballot distribution while simultaneously cutting the postal budget

- Teases data center segment after the break

--- [COMMERCIAL BREAK] ---

00:21:19 Indianapolis Data Centers — DMD Listening Session

- Rev. Alexander reports on DMD’s first community listening session on data center guardrails, held the previous day

- Reaction was uniformly negative — attendees said nothing new was presented and no real input was taken

- Pastor Greene calls it a “check the box” meeting — the community was invited but not heard

00:24:24 City Council’s Missed Opportunity

- Rev. Alexander recounts how Councilor Jesse Brown’s earlier resolution to establish data center guardrails was voted down by council

- City then returned to the community asking for input after having already rejected a formal process

- Pastor Greene calls out the Black councilors who opposed Brown’s resolution and have not yet presented the “better plan” they promised

00:26:44 Political Stakes — Data Centers and the 2027 Mayor’s Race

- Pastor Greene argues data center frustration is compounding with gas prices and other economic pain

- Warns councilpersons that silence on this issue is being noted and will matter in 2027 municipal elections

- Rev. Alexander agrees: this is one of the most-watched issues in the city right now

00:28:16 Caller — Reverend Phillips

- Reverend Phillips calls in briefly on the Supreme Court ruling and voting rights

- Frames the moment in spiritual terms — calls on believers to pray and seek God

- Rev. Alexander closes the call warmly and takes the break

--- [COMMERCIAL BREAK] ---

00:30:34 SD-29 Candidate Segment — Pastor Greene’s Closing Pitch

- Rev. Alexander introduces Pastor Greene as a candidate for Indiana Senate District 29

- Pastor Greene frames his candidacy as a moral response to what he calls egregious conduct at the statehouse

- Describes Indiana’s $22 billion budget as a moral document; cites seniors choosing between medicine and meals, CCDF childcare voucher gaps, and underfunded public schools

00:33:27 SD-29 Candidate Segment — Federal Cuts Coming to the State

- Rev. Alexander raises proposed changes to Supplemental Security Income — benefit reductions for disabled people living with family members

- Pastor Greene confirms SSI cuts are coming and shares what he’s heard across his district: retired people who did everything right now facing impossible financial pressure

- Argues seniors and people with disabilities deserve to age with dignity and stay in their homes

00:35:40 SD-29 Candidate Segment — Cross-Aisle Optimism

- Rev. Alexander asks whether Indiana Democrats can find Republican partners

- Pastor Greene points to Governor Braun’s $200 million one-time childcare fund as evidence — driven by Republican business community pressure, not Democratic lobbying, after 311+ childcare closures statewide

- Argues a broad urban-suburban-rural coalition — chambers of commerce, United Way, women-led organizations, faith community — can move the needle on affordability in the 2027 budget

00:37:55 SD-29 Candidate Segment — Shared Economic Pain Across Party Lines

- Rev. Alexander argues school funding, disability care, and food prices affect everyone regardless of race or party

- Pastor Greene: “They don’t charge me any more when I walk in the grocery store because I’m Black”

- Raises rural voters whose hospitals have closed and who now travel 100 miles for care at $4+ gas

00:40:52 SD-29 Candidate Segment — Farmers and Tariffs

- Rev. Alexander reports Wisconsin and Michigan farmers are choosing not to plant this spring due to tariff uncertainty and product markets collapsing

- Pastor Greene argues those farmers didn’t vote expecting this outcome — and their pain may shift their politics

- Notes Trump is pushing federal fallout down to the state level, increasing pressure on the governor heading into his reelection

00:42:40 SD-29 Candidate Segment — Closing Argument

- Rev. Alexander asks Greene for his closing message to SD-29 voters

- Greene: affordability first, fighting to protect Eagle Creek, bringing a track record of coalition work from business to faith-based community

- Campaign slogan: “Don’t be mean, vote for Green”

- Distinguishes himself from opponents on experience — points voters to his public record on education, health care, and redistricting

00:45:51 SD-29 District Geography

- Rev. Alexander asks Greene to define the district for voters unsure if they’re in it

- Greene: formerly J.D. Ford’s seat — Pike and Wayne Township, east to I-465, south to Raceway Road, plus Zionsville (Boone County) and West Carmel (Hamilton County) up to 146th Street

- Describes it as a gerrymandered district the GOP never expected a Democrat to win

00:47:19 Souls to the Polls — Sunday, May 3

- Rev. Alexander asks about the Souls to the Polls effort

- Pastor Greene: five churches participating this Sunday; buses donated by Cameron Riddle’s bus company; departing from Purpose of Life at noon

- Participating churches: Purpose of Life, Antioch, Fountain of Grace, Eastside Baptist, St. John’s Missionary Baptist, Olivet Baptist

- Churches traveling to the City-County Building to vote early; no church membership required

- To join or add a church: contact Kara Johnson at 317-869-7367

- Greene commits to repeating the effort in November

00:50:11 Closing / Sign-Off

- Rev. Alexander urges listeners to bring elderly family members to a participating church for the bus

- Thanks Pastor Greene for his campaign labor; thanks listening and viewing audience

- Sign-off: Concerned Clergy Radio Show, Praise AM 1310 / 95.1 FM, Indy’s Inspiration Station

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https://progressiveindiana.net

It’s familiar.

It’s families working harder than ever…
and still feeling like they’re falling behind.

It’s small towns like Vincennes, Patoka, and Haubstadt trying to hold onto what they’ve built, while watching opportunity slowly drift somewhere else.

In this episode, I sat down with Candy Greer—a candidate stepping into Indiana’s 64th House District with a message that feels less like politics… and more like frustration finally turning into action.

And right from the start, you can tell—this isn’t coming from a polished political script.

It’s coming from lived experience.

Candy talks openly about what a lot of people in her generation have felt for years:
Working harder, waiting for things to improve… and watching nothing really change.

That shows up in how she talks about wages.

Indiana’s minimum wage hasn’t meaningfully moved in over a decade, and for her, that’s not just a policy debate—it’s the starting point for everything else.

If wages don’t move, nothing else does.

Not housing.
Not opportunity.
Not stability.

But what stood out wasn’t just the focus on wages—it was how everything connects.

She kept coming back to one idea:
It’s all intersectional.

Healthcare affects small businesses.
Wages affect farming families.
Education affects workforce development.
Mental health affects everything.

And if you don’t address those pieces together—you’re not really solving the problem.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation:

💰 Raising the minimum wage and restoring worker negotiating power
🌾 The reality of family farms and why many farmers need second jobs
🏥 Rural healthcare access and the need for transportation and funding
🏫 Public school funding and the impact of voucher programs
🏠 Housing shortages and corporate property buy-ups
🚧 Infrastructure—from roads to water systems to broadband gaps
🧠 Mental health and addiction as issues that require real investment, not stigma

But what really stuck with me was her approach.

She’s not pretending to have every answer.

She’s saying she’ll listen.

She talks about an open-door policy. About learning from people who actually live the issues. About working across the aisle if it means getting results.

And in a district that hasn’t even had a challenger in recent elections—that alone is a shift.

We also talked about what pushed her to run in the first place.

It wasn’t a long political plan.

It was a moment.

A local fight over banning Ready Player One in her daughter’s school that turned into something bigger—realizing she wasn’t alone, and that her voice reflected a lot more people than she expected.

That moment turned into a campaign.

And now, she’s part of a growing wave of younger candidates stepping forward in places where voters haven’t had a choice in years.

Then, as always, we put it to the test with Hold ’em or Fold ’em—where the talking points disappear and the positions get clear.

What you’ll see here isn’t someone trying to sound like a politician.

It’s someone trying to represent people who feel like they haven’t been heard in a long time.

And in a district like 64…

that might be exactly what this moment calls for.

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HoosLeft: https://hoosleft.us

Karla Lopez Owens: https://klo4change.com/

SUMMARY:

Karla Lopez Owens joins Scott Aaron Rogers for a wide-ranging conversation about her campaign for Marion County Clerk -- the office overseeing court records, child support, marriage licenses, and, most critically, the Marion County Election Board. An immigrant from Mexico who arrived in the United States at age eight, Karla draws a direct line from her childhood as an interpreter and translator for her family in professional settings to her fifteen years of public service work, most recently as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney and Director of Community Outreach with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office. She talks about the clerk’s role as a vehicle for a people-first philosophy of government — demystifying bureaucracy, meeting constituents where they are, and breaking down barriers that go well beyond language. The conversation takes a sharp turn into the state of Democratic Party politics in Marion County, with Karla laying out three root causes of the county’s historically low voter turnout: systemic access barriers for transient and marginalized populations, a lack of competitive primary races, and deep voter apathy rooted in a feeling of abandonment by party leadership. She speaks candidly about Marion County Party Chair Myla Eldridge’s mass challenge of dozens of progressive delegate and precinct committee candidacies in early 2026, calling the hearing “traumatizing and demoralizing.” Scott and Karla close on the mechanics of civic power-building: why voting in the Democratic primary is a prerequisite for running for office, and how overwhelming people power is the only path to reforming a party establishment that controls resources and access.

WHAT’S INSIDE:

00:00:22 Introduction and Housekeeping

- Scott introduces the show one week out from the May 5, 2026 Indiana primary.

00:04:44 Meet Karla Lopez Owens

- Karla arrived in the U.S. from Mexico at age eight with her family, who were searching for work.

- Her mother worked at a turkey factory in North Carolina before relocating to Indianapolis to work as a housekeeper after a call from a relative.

- Karla and her sisters grew up serving as interpreters and translators for their family in professional settings -- doctors’ offices, attorneys’ offices, schools.

- She describes this bridging role as her introduction to public service, and notes the mix of welcoming and unwelcoming experiences that shaped her drive to make government more accessible.

00:07:54 Citizenship, Civic Engagement, and the Decision to Run

- Karla became a U.S. citizen at 18 through a family-based petition and registered to vote immediately.

- She frames running for clerk as a continuation of fifteen years of public service -- including five and a half years at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and five years as voter education chair for the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus.

- She recently served as president of the Indiana Latino Democratic Caucus; new leadership was elected the same day as this interview.

- The clerk’s office is, in her view, the ideal vehicle to scale the people-first work she’s already doing.

00:10:47 The Scale of the Job: Marion County Clerk vs. Congress

- Marion County is Indiana’s most populous and most diverse county; a countywide elected official represents more constituents than any member of Congress.

- In the November 2024 general election -- one of the most consequential in modern history -- Marion County had the second lowest voter turnout in the state.

- Karla calls that result “unforgivable” and sees reversing it as central to her candidacy.

- Lake County and Marion County together could be driving statewide Democratic performance if organized properly.

00:14:28 What the Marion County Clerk Actually Does

- The clerk’s office is among the most public-facing in county government: it is the official record keeper for court records, handles filings to initiate legal proceedings, manages child support payments, issues marriage licenses, and oversees other administrative procedures.

- The clerk also serves as secretary to the Marion County Election Board, which oversees all countywide elections and trains and equips poll workers.

- Karla emphasizes the office’s dual role: administrative record-keeping and the election infrastructure that determines who participates in democracy.

00:16:44 People-First: Ideas for Improving the Office

- Karla resists framing the clerk’s role as purely administrative -- she sees significant leeway to change culture, outreach posture, and accessibility.

- Her model comes from her circuit court work overseeing hardship license cases, where she often acts more like a social worker than a prosecutor -- guiding pro se litigants step by step through processes they don’t understand.

- She advocates for meeting people in the community with information, not just waiting for them to come to the office.

- Visibility and consistency matter: public servants who show up, stay, and actually listen rather than making brief appearances.

00:22:00 Redefining Accessibility

- Accessibility goes beyond language and disability accommodations -- it encompasses the economic realities of poverty.

- Many court users don’t have credit cards, bank accounts, smartphones, or access to ride-share; they can’t use a parking app or pay a fee online.

- Karla describes writing out step-by-step instructions for court users with low literacy as a routine part of her current job.

- Potential solutions she raises: more bus passes, stronger inter-agency relationships, expanded community advocates.

00:25:13 Government as Public Good

- Scott frames the exchange in terms of the Democratic philosophy of government as a service that belongs to the people -- not an alien, intimidating institution.

- Karla agrees that demystifying the processes and making the clerk’s office a known, trusted resource is foundational to everything else.

- The conversation pivots toward Marion County’s voter turnout problem and what a people-first clerk can do about it.

00:27:07 Why Marion County Voter Turnout Is So Low

- Karla identifies three categories of causes from research she’s read: structural access barriers, lack of competitive races, and voter apathy.

- Structural barriers hit transient populations hardest -- renters, students, people who move frequently and lose track of registration; Karla relates this to her own childhood, attending a new school every year until North Central High School.

- The lack of competitive primary races removes a reason to participate; if nothing is contested, there’s nothing to vote for.

- Apathy is the result of people feeling abandoned and alienated by systems designed to serve a select few -- not a personal failing of individual voters.

00:30:35 How to Reverse It

- The fix requires consistent, meaningful outreach at the community level -- apartment complexes, soccer clinics, wherever people actually are -- not token appearances.

- Education on rights and processes is the second lever: people who know what’s available are more likely to engage.

- Karla flags the practical requirement many don’t know: to run for any party or elected position in Indiana, you must have voted in a Democratic primary. She calls this information the establishment “doesn’t want you to know.”

- She acknowledges the party’s selective enforcement of rules and the exceptions that are quietly made for favored candidates.

00:34:31 The Democratic Party Is Also the Problem

- Karla turns the criticism inward: it’s not just Republican voter suppression that drives down turnout, it’s the behavior of the Democratic establishment itself.

- She pivots to February 2026, when Marion County Party Chair Myla Eldridge filed dozens of challenges against progressive candidates for precinct committee person and Indiana state delegate.

- The hearing before the Marion County Election Board -- where then-clerk Kate Sweeney Bell served as adjudicator -- was “traumatizing and demoralizing” for the challengers.

- Notices went out on a Friday at 5 p.m. before a holiday weekend with a wrong email address; Karla had to reassure participants they weren’t being sued.

00:40:01 The Pattern: Eldridge, Bell, and the 2022 Precedent

- Karla notes that Bell and Eldridge have swapped the clerk and party chair roles, creating a continuous power structure across cycles.

- She watched back hearings from previous election cycles and found eerily similar patterns of targeted challenges.

- Her critique isn’t with rules per se -- as an attorney she respects procedural law -- but with the systemic barriers the establishment creates while invoking rules selectively.

- Emails go unanswered, calls go ignored, and discretion is exercised only when it serves those in power.

00:42:19 Safe Seats, Both Parties Ratchet Right

- Scott lays out his critique of safe-seat politics: the conventional wisdom says safe Democratic seats produce more progressive officeholders, but he argues the opposite is true.

- Money captures safe seats regardless of party; in blue districts, the result is Democrats who work for developers and real estate interests, govern as centrists, and actively resist new entrants from marginalized communities.

- Karla agrees it’s a reflection of current Democratic Party leadership and frames it as the reason for the low-turnout doom loop: a corrupt establishment demotivates the voters it needs.

- The solution is organized people power -- replacing those who hold a stranglehold on the party structure with new leadership built from the ground up.

00:44:50 Why Voting in the Primary Is the Key

- Karla returns to the practical ask: even if you’re disillusioned, voting in the primary preserves your right to run for office in Indiana.

- Pulling a Democratic primary ticket is a prerequisite for running as precinct committee person, state delegate, city-county council, state representative, or state senate -- you cannot access the ballot without it.

- She calls this the rule the establishment weaponizes while quietly making exceptions; getting that information into communities is part of her platform.

- The 2026 primary saw an unprecedented surge of people wanting to be involved as precinct committee persons and state delegates -- exactly the wave Karla wants to channel.

00:49:04 People Power Over Establishment Resources

- Resources in party politics flow through the establishment; outsiders have to kiss the ring to access them, which means compromising their platform.

- The only alternative is resourcefulness and coalition-building from the ground up.

- Karla identifies herself as a socialist democrat and progressive democrat who wants to work with the party -- but will work to replace leadership that won’t engage honestly.

- She expresses genuine optimism: there’s energy, enthusiasm, and ganas (will) to build something new if people channel it into concrete civic action.

00:53:19 Cross-Party Support and the Case for Competition

- Karla notes she has received commitments from Republicans who’ve seen her work and believe in her vision of local government that serves everyone.

- First-time voters, young voters, and new citizens are among those newly engaged and at stake in this election cycle.

- She embraces primary competition as healthy; if you can stand on your record, you should welcome a challenge.

- Karla is on the ballot three times in her east-side Irvington neighborhood: for clerk, precinct committee person, and Indiana state delegate.

00:54:22 How to Get Involved

- Website: klo4change.com

- Email: karla@klo4change.com

- Instagram: @Kowens - official campaign account

- Substack: forthcoming post summarizing her platform and the campaign’s work

- Campaign needs: phone banking, canvassing, and poll workers on Election Day more than money at this stage

- Karla thanks her volunteers and closes with a commitment to continue the work regardless of the outcome.

00:57:47 Outro and Upcoming Programming

- Election Day is May 5, 2026; early voting is currently open.

- Thursday, 7 p.m.: HoosLeft interview with Keil Roark (IN-9 congressional candidate).

- Sunday, 10:30 a.m.: HoosLeft This Week with guests Fred Miller (songwriter/artist) and Sharon Wight (HD-81 candidate).

- Sunday, 7 p.m.: Final PIN Virtual Town Hall of the primary season with Dr. Tim Peck (IN-9).

- Tuesday, May 5, 7 p.m.: PIN Election Night coverage with Scott, Derrick Holder, Brianna Newhart, Kelly DeLong, Carlie Dunn, and guests.

- Subscribe at progressiveindiana.net; follow PIN and HoosLeft across social platforms.

It shows up in rising grocery bills.
It shows up in rent that keeps climbing.
It shows up in wages that haven’t moved enough to keep up with either.

And in Indiana’s 66th House District, that frustration is turning into something else:

Action.

In this episode, I sat down with Ryan Price, a candidate who doesn’t come from politics—he comes from the same reality a lot of Hoosiers are living right now.

He’s a husband. A father. A working-class Hoosier trying to make it work in a system that, in his words, just isn’t built for people like him anymore.

And that’s really where this conversation starts.

Not with policy—but with experience.

Ryan talks about what it means to live in a district that sits just across from Louisville’s economy, where people often cross state lines for work, pay different taxes, and still struggle to get ahead.

He doesn’t dress it up.

He calls it what it is.

A system where wages stay low while costs keep rising.
Where corporations get incentives without being held accountable.
Where housing is getting harder to afford—not easier.

We dug into all of it:

💰 Why the current minimum wage isn’t just low—it’s unrealistic
🏠 The reality of trying to buy a home in today’s market
🏫 Public school funding being pulled in directions it shouldn’t be
🏥 Rural healthcare access that depends too much on geography
🚧 Infrastructure challenges, from flooding to outdated systems
🏪 Small businesses trying to compete in a system tilted toward corporations

But what stood out most wasn’t just the policy—it was the tone.

Ryan isn’t promising the moon.

He’s promising to show up.

To be accessible.
To answer his own messages.
To meet people where they are instead of disappearing behind a title.

And honestly, that’s something voters are asking for more and more.

We also talked about something that hit deeper than policy:

His generation.

The group that was told to go to school, work hard, do everything right—and then found out the system didn’t hold up its end of the deal.

That frustration isn’t theoretical.

It’s personal.

And it’s driving people like Ryan to step forward.

Then, as always, we put it to the test with Hold ’em or Fold ’em—where the talking points disappear and the positions get clear.

What you’ll see here isn’t a polished politician.

It’s someone trying to give his district something he feels like it’s been missing:

A voice that actually reflects the people living there.

And in a place like District 66…

that might matter more than anything else.

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Indiana voters are about to choose the official responsible for policing the securities industry. But the man who wants to be the watchdog is bankrolled by the very wolves he’d be sworn to guard against.

Meet Beau Bayh.

His father, Evan Bayh, takes a paycheck from Apollo Global Management, a private equity giant that pocketed $180 million from Indiana’s public pension fund in 2024 alone. On January 5, 2026, Apollo co-founder Marc Rowan chipped in $25,000 to Beau’s campaign.

That is a direct line from the top of a firm profiting off Hoosier retirees to the candidate who’d oversee them.

The Apollo Problem

Apollo Global Management isn’t just any investment firm. Co-founded by Marc Rowan and Leon Black (who resigned amid ties to Jeffrey Epstein), Apollo has a rap sheet that includes the largest fine in SEC history for misleading retirees. Despite this, the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS) doubled down in 2024, handing Apollo a $180 million allocation of Hoosier teachers’ and police officers’ pension money. Indiana also became the first state to force public pensions into crypto. Another massive win for industry. Go figure.

Evan Bayh, Beau’s father, works for Apollo. He reportedly made millions as a “senior advisor.” When Evan ran for Senate in 2016, he was hammered for these ties.

Now, Beau is asking for a promotion to the very office that regulates Apollo.

This is a textbook case of regulatory capture.

If elected, Beau would oversee the Securities Division, the cops on the beat for Indiana’s investment industry. That means he would have the power to investigate, fine, or license the firms managing Hoosiers’ retirement money.

Including the one that pays his father a seven-figure salary.

This isn’t just bad optics. It’s a structural conflict of interest—and it’s Indiana teachers, police, and firefighters whose retirements are riding on the answer.

But Apollo is only the beginning.

Let’s Put A Number On It

On October 3, 2025, Robert Johnson—founder and chairman of RLJ Companies LLC, RLJ Equity Partners LLC, and RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings—wrote a $300,000 check to Beau Bayh’s campaign.

That’s not a typo, dear reader. Three hundred thousand dollars. From one private equity billionaire to the candidate who wants to regulate auto dealers, hotels, and securities in Indiana.

Johnson made his fortune as the founder of BET, but his private equity empire—RLJ Equity, RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings, RLJ Lodging Trust—now reaches deep into Indiana.

Consider the auto dealers.

RLJ Equity owns RLJ-McLarty-Landers Automotive Holdings (RML Automotive), which has deep, revolving-door ties to Asbury Automotive Group—one of the nation’s largest auto retailer that owns Hare Honda, the Estes dealerships, and more across Indiana. According to RML Automotive’s own website, the Vice Chairman, Thomas F. “Mack” McLarty, helped take Asbury Automotive public in 2002. The Secretary of State licenses and regulates every single one of those dealers. David W. Hult, the current CEO of Asbury Automotive, previously served as Chief Operating Officer of RLJ-McLarty-Landers. That’s the same RLJ that donated $300,000 to Beau Bayh.

Asbury Automotive is also known for its exploitative practices toward employees and customers alike. My husband, a mechanic in central Indy, has encountered issues from failing to provide meal breaks to wage theft—and we’ve experienced some of these ourselves. In August 2024, the FTC began an enforcement action against three Asbury-owned Texas dealerships for allegedly selling unauthorized add-ons and targeting Black and Latino consumers with higher-priced extras.

And who investigates complaints regarding dealer practices? Well, the complaint is filed with the Secretary of State’s office.

Now consider the hotels.

RLJ Lodging Trust bought up Indiana-based White Lodging Services Corp., acquiring 100 hotels in a $1.7 billion deal. That includes properties in Indianapolis, Merrillville, and across the state. The Secretary of State oversees business regulations, charitable gaming, and liquor licenses that apply to those hotels.

Robert Johnson—the man who controls all of this—is spending $300,000 to put Beau Bayh in the office that would oversee every single one of those businesses.

That’s not a campaign contribution. That’s an investment.

[No Labels Enters the Chat]

On the last day of March, another private equity executive wrote a six-figure check. Andy Bursky—founder of Atlas Holdings—donated $100,000 to Beau Bayh.

Andy Bursky is a private equity guy through and through. And he’s also a major donor to No Labels, the self-styled “commonsense” political organization.

Now look at No Labels’ own website. Listed as a “National Leader” of No Labels? Former U.S. Senator Evan Bayh—Beau’s father.

That’s right. The same Evan Bayh who takes a paycheck from Apollo Global Management and sits on the board of RLJ Lodging Trust is also a national face of No Labels.

So the owner of a private equity firm and a major No Labels donor pumps $100,000 into Bayh’s campaign for Indiana Secretary of State, and the Indiana Democratic Party wants Hoosiers to believe that’s purely coincidence?

The Anti-Corruption Candidate Bankrolled by P.E.

Here’s the cruelest irony: Beau Bayh is running on an anti-corruption platform. He talks about transparency, about cleaning up the Secretary of State’s office, about being a watchdog who puts Hoosiers first.

But his campaign finance records tell a different story.

But his campaign is a slush fund from the very industries he’d be sworn to police. The Simon family—billionaires who built their fortune in real estate and have since ventured into private equity—have poured hundreds of thousands into Beau Bayh’s campaign. Along with at least eight other private equity executives who have also written checks to Beau Bayh’s campaign. That’s a small army of industry insiders funding the man who would regulate their industry.

Let me be clear, private equity doesn’t write $25,000, $100,000, or $300,000 checks out of civic virtue. It buys access. It buys a regulator who will look the other way and not ask questions.

You cannot take six-figure checks from the wolves and then promise to guard the henhouse.

The Question for Indiana Voters

Do you want a Secretary of State who answers to you?

Or to the private equity wolves who wrote his campaign checks?

Beau Bayh has raised nearly $2 million in 2025, far outpacing incumbent Diego Morales or primary challenger Blythe Potter. He has the money. He has the name recognition. And he has the private equity donors, including one who gave $300,000 in a single check, and another tied to his father’s own political network.

The only question is what they expect to get in return.

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bradmeyer.org

SUMMARY:

In his fourth virtual town hall with Progressive Indiana Network, 9th District Democratic Congressional candidate Brad Meyer covers a wide range of policy ground with host Scott Aaron Rogers ahead of the May 5th primary. Meyer opens with an unscripted personal statement about why he got off the sideline and into the race, framing his progressive candidacy as a rejection of the Democratic Party’s rightward drift. The conversation spans climate and energy policy, the dual-edged threat of AI and data centers, US-China relations and the prospect of war, gun violence, drug policy, mass incarceration, neurodiversity and disability education funding, executive power and the Iran war, and the political disillusionment of ordinary voters. Throughout, Meyer draws on his 35-year background as an engineering manager to ground his policy positions in practical terms, while Scott pushes him on structural questions about wealth concentration, federal job guarantees, and the courage required to go on offense rather than play permanent defense.

IN DEPTH:

00:00:00 Opening Remarks

- Scott opens the stream, notes technical difficulties with ProgressiveIndiana.net, and invites Brad Meyer to begin while Scott troubleshoots

- Meyer speaks off the cuff, describing how he and his wife were heading into a quiet retirement before Project 2025 and the Democratic Party’s drift rightward pulled him into the race

- Meyer argues Democrats must stand on their values and bring voters to their side rather than softening positions to blend in with the opposition

00:03:29 Environmental Policy, the Green New Deal, and Net Zero

- Scott notes it is “criminal” that they have not yet discussed the environment in this series and asks Meyer about his policy positions, including the Green New Deal and a carbon tax

- Meyer frames the issue in two parts: global warming, where he calls out climate denial as the same playbook used by the tobacco industry, and ecology, where he cites Indiana’s severely polluted waterways and the need for point source pollution controls

- Meyer says he still has more listening to do before committing to a definitive climate platform, but expressed interest in carbon swap mechanisms as an economic tool

00:06:43 Nuclear Energy and Small Modular Reactors

- Scott presses Meyer on how to achieve net zero by 2035 and raises nuclear — particularly small modular reactors being developed in Indiana partly to power AI data centers — as a potential clean energy option

- Meyer says he cannot support nuclear today as an engineer, citing the recurring pattern of unforeseen combinations of failures in past plants and the impossibility of trusting regulatory oversight under the current science-denying administration

- Meyer draws a distinction between next-generation reactor technology and the regulatory and scientific environment required to deploy it responsibly

00:09:43 Viewer Question from @2Tows (YouTube): AI and Data Centers

- @2Tows asks how Meyer approaches the looming threat of AI and data centers on the working class

- Meyer breaks the question in two: on AI, he says the transformation will be faster and more disruptive than the PC revolution, hitting white-collar workers who have never faced this kind of displacement before — comparable to what automation and deindustrialization did to blue-collar manufacturing

- On data centers, Meyer argues the core problem is companies using NDAs to lock out local communities from decisions that directly affect them, calling the practice unethical and a red flag about corporate intentions as a community partner

00:14:03 Distributing AI’s Economic Value

- Scott asks how we ensure AI’s productivity gains are distributed more equitably rather than captured entirely by a handful of tech overlords

- Meyer confirms the hype is real — describing a personal engineering project he completed in two weeks with AI that he estimated would have taken 52 weeks alone — and says the question is not if but how

- Meyer advocates for a $20 federal minimum wage and higher taxation on corporations and high-net-worth individuals, while expressing a preference for policies that break up monopolies and enable small business formation over direct wealth transfers

00:19:00 Federal Jobs Guarantee and the Care Economy

- Scott pushes back: if AI eliminates jobs wholesale, what do the idle masses do, and does the federal government need to step in with a jobs guarantee or something like a climate corps?

- Meyer prioritizes breaking up monopolies, restoring the Small Business Administration, banning anti-competitive non-compete agreements, and implementing Medicare for All to free workers from job-lock

- Meyer says done right, the AI boom produces more small business owners; done wrong, it produces the economic conditions of the 1880s

00:22:23 US-China Relations and Foreign Policy

- Scott notes it is equally “criminal” that a federal candidate has not been asked about foreign policy, and raises the US-China relationship: Cold War redux or something else?

- Meyer says the better analogy is pre-World War II, citing publicly available congressional testimony about China’s plans to take Taiwan in 2027 and Trump’s requested 40% military budget increase as alarming signals

- Meyer argues America First is really America Alone, and that the diplomatic failures surrounding the Iran war — including leaving European allies out of the picture — have left the US dangerously isolated at the moment it most needs partners

00:26:55 Scott Pushes Back: American Imperialism and the China Threat

- Scott challenges the framing as an anti-war lefty, noting the US has spent 80 years “swinging its thing” around the globe — Iran, Cuba, Greenland, Central America, Iraq, Vietnam — and questions the moral authority to cast China as the threat

- Meyer acknowledges the critique but argues the relative peace of the post-WWII era, underwritten by US power and trade alliances, has been genuine — and that China’s rise to preeminence, particularly a Taiwan seizure, would trigger a regional realignment with severe economic consequences for the US

- The two agree to disagree philosophically and Meyer reframes the goal as preserving a stable world economy where all nations can grow without the US having to suffer

00:32:24 Gun Violence Policy

- Scott pivots to gun violence, noting weapons of war are proliferating on American streets and schools, and asks what Meyer’s policy is and whether it involves banning anything

- Meyer calls for common-sense measures with broad support — disarming people on terrorist watch lists, and those in mental health crisis or threatening others through court-reviewed red flag processes — while acknowledging the political sensitivity in southern Indiana and his need to be explicitly on the record

- Meyer highlights the Dickey Amendment-style research prohibitions Congress has imposed and calls for lifting them, arguing the population cannot be moved faster than it is willing to go but that time in the district and sustained persuasion can shift that

00:37:28 Viewer Question from Patrick (Facebook): Schumer or Ro Khanna?

- Patrick on Facebook asks whether Meyer aligns more with Chuck Schumer or Ro Khanna for the direction of the Democratic Party

- Meyer says he is a progressive, plans to join the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and is not a Schumer fan — Scott informs him Khanna is a fellow Progressive Caucus member

- Meyer’s response: “Groovy.”

00:38:35 Drug Policy: Marijuana Legalization and Beyond

- Scott uses the gun prohibition discussion as a bridge to drug prohibition, noting Meyer has been outspoken for marijuana legalization, and asks how far he would go — psilocybin, ibogaine, the Portugal decriminalization model?

- Meyer supports full recreational marijuana legalization with controls mirroring alcohol — taxed, regulated, no impaired driving — but says his enthusiasm for going further is “really low,” supporting only tightly restricted medical research into psychedelics with no path toward normalization

- Meyer says he always believed medicinal marijuana was a foot in the door toward legalization, which he now supports outright, but draws the line there

00:42:05 Mass Incarceration

- Scott argues the war on drugs has failed and produced a mass incarceration crisis, and asks how Meyer would address it

- Meyer identifies three root causes he wants to attack: mental illness, addiction, and poverty — noting that the US has been almost entirely punitive rather than curative, and that the people most likely to be locked up are also the poorest

- Meyer flags the high recidivism rate as evidence that longer sentences are counterproductive, severing inmates from the community ties that reduce reoffending

00:47:04 Private Prisons

- Scott cuts to the chase: private prison corporations profit from incarceration — would Meyer ban them?

- Meyer says he is inclined to ban private prisons as a government function, but hedges by saying if a private prison demonstrably lowered recidivism, that would be worth considering

- Meyer’s core argument: remove the profit motive from the entire prison system, public or private, and tie advancement to outcomes after release

00:48:29 Neurodiversity, Disability, and the IDEA Act

- Scott notes that many people in the carceral system are undiagnosed and untreated neurodiverse individuals who fell through the cracks, and asks how Meyer would address the autism and neurodiversity community specifically

- Meyer says he has held roundtable discussions with disability experts and advocates to inform his thinking rather than imposing his own precepts, and centers his answer on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — which the federal government committed to fund at 40% but has never exceeded 14%, and which the current administration is actively gutting

- Meyer argues every dollar invested in early education for people with disabilities returns four to six dollars, and that society is already paying the cost through incarceration, homelessness, and lost productivity

00:52:09 Viewer Question from Katy (Facebook): Limits on Presidential Executive Orders

- Katy on Facebook asks whether Meyer has plans to impose limits on presidential executive orders

- Meyer says the limits already exist on paper — the real problem is Congress abdicating its oversight responsibility, and the specific abuse Meyer highlights is the use of emergency powers, citing Trump’s conduct around the Iran war as an example requiring impeachment rather than new legislation

- Meyer says he wants the social norms built over 250 years enforced, not new laws written, and that a president who violates those norms needs to be removed — legally

00:54:00 The White House Correspondents’ Dinner Incident

- Scott asks Meyer’s reaction to whatever happened the previous night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

- Meyer says there is no place for violence in American politics — regardless of how strongly he opposes Trump — and that the answer is the ballot box, starting with May 5th

00:54:48 Viewer Question from @2Tows (YouTube): How to Help the Campaign

- Scott returns to a question he had been holding from @2Tows, who is a newly converted Meyer supporter, asking what they and others can do to help in the final days

- Meyer says: vote, and tell your friends one-on-one — peer-to-peer persuasion is more powerful than door-knocking and will matter even more in the general

- Meyer says person-to-person contact is what will make the difference

00:56:09 Message to Disillusioned Voters

- Scott asks what Meyer says to voters who are over it — fed up with both parties

- Meyer validates the disillusionment completely, saying voters are not looking at it wrong, and argues that the party’s strategy of moving right and sounding more Republican has never produced real solutions

- Meyer uses the gerrymandering fight as a case study in defensive politics: Democrats stopped Indiana from making an already-horrible gerrymander worse and called it their biggest victory — while nothing got done on streams, childcare, coal, the grid, or education; he says it is time to go on offense

01:00:06 Brad’s Closing Remarks

- Meyer directs viewers to bradmeyer.org and the Brad Meyer for Indiana Facebook page to contact, volunteer, or donate

- Meyer closes with a direct ask: vote May 5th, tell your friends, and remember that more timid policies will not get us where we need to go

Thanks again to Brad Meyer for joining us. For more information and to get involved, visit his campaign website at https://www.bradmeyer.org. You can also find him on Facebook and across approximately eight social media platforms linked from the campaign site.

The last in our virtual town hall this primary season is Sunday, May 3 at 7pm ET with another 9th District Democrat, Dr. Tim Peck.

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HoosLeft This Week opens with late-breaking news from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting before turning to a packed week in national and international news: the Iran war enters its third month with twin blockades strangling global oil markets, Trump fires another cabinet secretary and the Kash Patel drinking story drops, the Roberts Court’s shadow docket origins are exposed, Congress loses more members to scandal and death, and the Epstein pardon question heats up. In the second hour, Nick Marshall joins to cover Indiana: data center regulation battles in Marion County and Clark/Floyd Counties, ICE’s expanding footprint in Indianapolis, the Kleinhelter sheriff scandal and a DCS patronage deal in Dubois County, a Medicaid provider clawback fight, the Indiana Supreme Court taking up the RFRA challenge to the abortion ban, Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith’s war on a high school percussion ensemble, the Diego Morales Secretary of State fiasco, and the Seventh Circuit’s last-minute reinstatement of Indiana’s student ID voting ban.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00:00:34 Welcome

00:02:45 Guest Introductions

00:04:00 WHCD Shooting

00:05:08 Iran: War Update and Strait of Hormuz

00:12:49 Iran: Economic Fallout

00:18:28 Latin America Operations

00:23:42 Cabinet Turnover, Kash Patel, and SPLC Indictment

00:29:02 Drug Policy

00:32:37 Supreme Court Ethics

00:37:25 Congressional Misconduct and Turnover

00:43:25 Epstein Files and Maxwell Pardon

00:47:21 Virginia Redistricting

00:52:13 Palantir and Technofascism

00:57:13 Destiny Wells Sign-Off

00:59:54 The Crossroads: Data Centers

01:14:33 ICE Expansion in Indiana

01:23:02 Corruption: Kleinhelter and DCS/Krupp

01:32:49 Healthcare: Medicaid Clawbacks and Abortion

01:41:47 Beckwith

01:49:20 Elections: Morales, Student IDs, and Secretary of State Race

01:54:50 Closer: Melania’s Beehive

01:55:33 Guest Promos and Outro

01:58:42 Sign-Off

IN DEPTH:

• War in the Middle East

  • Trump threatens to knock out ‘every single power plant’ and ‘every single bridge’ in Iran (Yahoo! News)

    • Trump declared “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” Sunday before threatening to destroy every power plant and bridge in Iran if Tehran walks away from a nuclear deal

    • Witkoff and Kushner were due to head to Islamabad Monday for a second round of talks, but Iran’s lead negotiator says a deal is “far from final” and any agreement must move “step-by-step” with reciprocal actions — a direct rejection of Trump’s ultimatum approach.

    • The ceasefire is already fraying: Iranian gunboats fired on tankers in the strait over the weekend, Iran closed the waterway again, and U.S. Marines seized an Iranian cargo ship — all while Trump was claiming a deal was imminent.

    • The economic stakes are staggering: 20% of the world’s oil normally flows through the strait, an estimated 10% of global supply has been knocked out, over 80 energy facilities are damaged, and Iran is losing an estimated $435-500 million per day from the blockade.

  • As tensions escalate in the Strait of Hormuz, US and Iran both fire at ships (ABC)

    • The Strait of Hormuz is locked down Monday after a weekend of escalating violence: Iran fired on two Indian-flagged tankers that had been given clearance to pass, and U.S. Marines seized an Iranian cargo ship after disabling it with fire from a guided-missile destroyer.

    • Iran has pulled out of the next round of peace talks in Pakistan and the ceasefire expires Wednesday — with Trump warning Sunday that if no deal is reached, “the whole country is going to get blown up.”

    • 20,000 seafarers are stranded in the Persian Gulf, rationing food and water, unable to leave through the only exit — one crew member told ABC News “we feel like we are in a prison.”

    • The gap between diplomacy and reality has rarely been wider: Trump was claiming a deal was “a day or two away” as Iranian forces were firing on ships they had just cleared to pass.

  • Trump says the US will extend its ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request (AP)

    • Trump announced an indefinite ceasefire extension with Iran Tuesday — a day before it was set to expire — though the U.S. naval blockade continues and Iran has not confirmed it will return to the negotiating table.

    • Iran’s condition for rejoining talks is the same it’s been: end the blockade; Tehran’s UN ambassador said Iran has “received some sign” the U.S. might be ready to do so, but nothing is confirmed.

    • Both sides remain dug in: Trump warned of “lots of bombs” without a deal, while an IRGC general threatened to destroy the entire Middle East oil industry if war resumes — and Iran’s chief negotiator said Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” not yet played.

    • Even has Trump announced an extension of the ceasefire, he continued issuing combative, blustering statements on Truth Social.

  • Exclusive: US intercepts three Iranian oil tankers in Asian waters, sources say (Reuters)

    • The U.S. has intercepted at least three Iranian supertankers in Asian waters — off the coasts of Malaysia, India, and Sri Lanka — redirecting them as part of the naval blockade, which has now turned back or redirected 29 vessels total.

    • The scale of oil being blocked is significant: the three named tankers alone were carrying roughly 4.65 million barrels of crude, including the fully loaded Dorena now under U.S. Navy destroyer escort in the Indian Ocean.

    • Iran responded Wednesday with its first ship seizures since the war began, capturing two container ships attempting to exit the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz after firing on them and a third vessel.

    • The Strait remains at a near standstill nearly two months into the war, with the U.S. deliberately targeting Iranian ships in open ocean rather than the strait itself to avoid floating mines during interception operations.

  • Trump claims US has total control over strait of Hormuz after Iran seizes two container ships (Guardian)

    • Trump claimed Thursday he has “total control” over the Strait of Hormuz — the same day Iran seized two container ships by commando boarding and the Pentagon privately warned Congress it could take up to six months to clear mines from the strait.

    • The mines are the buried lede: approximately 20 are believed planted, some remotely maneuvered making them harder to locate, meaning the economic damage could outlast any peace deal by half a year.

    • Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei — who replaced his father, killed in the February 28 opening strike — has had three leg surgeries, hand surgery, and severe facial burns that make it difficult to speak, while the IRGC has filled the resulting power vacuum with a more hawkish collective leadership.

    • Trump said he’s in no rush for a deal and wants one that’s “everlasting” — while oil sits at $100 a barrel, Iran refuses to return to talks, and the IEA chief called this “the biggest energy security threat in history.”

  • Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended by three weeks, Trump says (Axios)

    • At an Oval Office meeting with both ambassadors — a meeting that started as a State Department session with Rubio and was upgraded to a White House summit three hours before it began.

    • The extension serves two purposes: advancing direct Israel-Lebanon peace talks and preventing renewed Lebanese fighting from blowing up the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire, which Iran claims Israeli strikes in Lebanon are already violating.

    • The gap between Trump’s optimism and Lebanese reality is wide: Lebanese officials say a trilateral Netanyahu-Aoun-Trump summit is unlikely while Israel occupies 6% of Lebanese territory and continues strikes — and Trump appeared genuinely surprised to learn Lebanese law bars contact with Israel, then asked Rubio to get it cancelled.

    • Hezbollah fired rockets at Israeli villages shortly before the meeting began, the IDF struck back, and Trump told reporters Israel can defend itself during the ceasefire as long as it does so “carefully” — a formulation that leaves the ceasefire’s durability entirely to interpretation.

  • Kushner, Witkoff — not Vance — heading to Pakistan for ‘direct talks’ with Iran, White House says (CNBC)

    • Witkoff and Kushner head to Islamabad Saturday after Iran reached out requesting direct talks — a diplomatic restart after negotiations appeared dead earlier this week when Iran refused to show up for a planned second round.

    • The White House is downgrading the delegation’s profile from Vance to Kushner and Witkoff, framing it as a preliminary listening session — “go hear what they have to say” — before deciding whether to send heavier hitters.

    • Pete Hegseth declared “Operation Epic Fury” a decisive success Friday, conveniently omitting that the administration originally promised the war would conclude in four to six weeks and has since quietly abandoned that timeline.

    • Trump told Reuters Iran will be “making an offer” but said he doesn’t know what it is yet — a statement that suggests the U.S. is going into Saturday’s talks without knowing Iran’s bottom line, nearly two months into a war that has shaken global energy markets.

  • Iran says no meeting with U.S. negotiators planned in Pakistan (CNBC)

    • Iran stood up Witkoff and Kushner — the White House announced Friday that Iran had reached out requesting direct talks in Islamabad, dispatched the delegation Saturday morning, and Iran then said no meeting was planned and flew its delegation out of the country.

    • The economic pressure is escalating in parallel: Treasury Secretary Bessent said the Russian oil waiver won’t be renewed, Iran’s oil waiver at sea is dead, and the U.S. sanctioned a major Chinese “teapot” refinery for buying billions in Iranian crude — squeezing Tehran’s remaining revenue streams.

    • Bessent warned Iran may have to start “shuttering production” within two to three days as the blockade tightens — damage to oil wells from forced shutdown could be long-term and irreversible, adding a new dimension of economic devastation beyond the immediate crisis.

    • The administration that promised a four-to-six week operation is now rebranding a two-month war with no deal in sight as “decisive” — while Iran won’t show up to talks and the ceasefire holds only because Trump keeps unilaterally extending it.

• Bailouts

  • U.A.E. Asks U.S. About a Wartime Financial Lifeline (WSJ)

    • The UAE is quietly asking Washington for a currency swap line — a financial lifeline — as the Iran war drains its dollar reserves, shuts off its oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, and spooks investors who once viewed it as a stable haven.

    • The Emiratis delivered an implicit threat: if they run short of dollars, they may be forced to conduct oil sales in Chinese yuan — a direct shot at the dollar’s global reserve currency status that Trump’s war has now put at risk.

    • The UAE has $270 billion in foreign reserves and its dirham is pegged to the dollar, but Iran fired over 2,800 drones and missiles at the country before the ceasefire — and Saudi Arabia’s finance minister warned that even a full end to hostilities won’t produce a quick recovery, with tanker logistics alone potentially taking until end of June to normalize.

    • The bottom line: Trump’s war is now threatening to accelerate the very de-dollarization of global oil markets that U.S. foreign policy has spent decades trying to prevent.

  • White House mulls using Defense Production Act in Spirit Airlines takeover (CBS)

    • The Trump administration is exploring using the Defense Production Act to bail out Spirit Airlines, which missed an interest payment this week and may have only days left to operate — the airline’s attorney warned it could collapse imminently unless it gains access to $250 million in cash currently frozen by creditors.

    • The proposed deal would have the federal government lend Spirit $500 million, become its senior creditor, use the airline’s excess capacity for military transport, and ultimately own 90% of the company before selling it to another carrier.

    • The bailout is creating a cabinet rift: Commerce Secretary Lutnick is pushing for it, while Transportation Secretary Duffy argues it would only delay an inevitable collapse and create a political headache.

    • The Iran war’s jet fuel crisis is the proximate cause of Spirit’s final spiral — a low-cost carrier with razor-thin margins and no cushion for a 30%-plus spike in fuel costs is exactly the kind of company that doesn’t survive an energy shock of this magnitude.

  • Indiana governor ‘likely’ to extend gas tax break (ICC)

    • Gov. Braun says he’ll likely extend Indiana’s 30-day gas sales tax suspension for another 30 days, citing the unresolved Iran war — though gas prices have already fallen from $4.14 to $3.69 since the suspension began.

    • If he doesn’t extend, the sales tax rate jumps from 17.2 cents to 23.3 cents per gallon in May — and after a second extension, Braun would need legislative approval to go further, which he says would likely require a special session he doubts will happen.

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• Latin America

  • U.S. soldier who won $400K betting on Maduro’s capture charged with using classified information (Yahoo! News)

    • A U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant who participated in the January 3 capture of Nicolas Maduro has been charged with betting $33,000 on Polymarket using classified knowledge of the operation — and walking away with $409,881 in profit.

    • Master Sgt. Gannon Van Dyke then tried to cover his tracks by asking Polymarket to delete his account, changing his crypto exchange email to an unregistered address, and routing proceeds through a foreign cryptocurrency vault — before a photo surfaced of him on what appears to be the deck of a ship in military fatigues on the day of the raid.

    • Trump compared Van Dyke to Pete Rose betting on his own team — “that’s not so bad” — before lamenting prediction markets generally, a remarkable stance given that Trump’s own Truth Social has a prediction market partnership and Donald Trump Jr. holds a financial stake in Polymarket and advises Kalshi.

    • The case is part of a broader prediction market reckoning: the White House has already warned staffers against betting on the Iran war with insider knowledge, and congressional candidates were fined this week for wagering on their own elections.

  • In visit to Havana, State Department warned Cuba it ‘has a small window to make a deal’ (Miami Herald)

    • Senior State Department officials made the first U.S. visit to Havana since the Obama administration on April 10, delivering a blunt message: release political prisoners, implement economic reforms, and do it fast — “they have a small window.”

    • The U.S. offer included free Starlink internet access and compensation discussions for the $9 billion in properties confiscated after Castro took power — carrots alongside the stick.

    • Cuba’s priority was the opposite: ending what it called the U.S. “energy blockade” that cut off Venezuelan and Mexican oil supplies, leaving the island in an accelerating economic crisis.

    • The diplomatic talks are happening under a surveillance drone and Trump’s threat that he could “take Cuba” at any moment — Cuba’s government responded Friday that it “will never be a trophy, nor another star in the American constellation.”

  • US military kills two more people in strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific (Guardian)

    • The U.S. military killed two more people Friday in a strike on a small boat in the eastern Pacific, part of a campaign that has now killed at least 178 people since last September — with the military posting videos of the explosions to social media while providing no detailed evidence the targeted vessels were actually involved in drug trafficking.

    • Legal experts, the ACLU, and UN officials say the strikes violate both domestic and international law; families of two men from Trinidad killed in a strike have sued the government, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has been asked to investigate — while Trump has called the campaign “an act of kindness.”

  • Sheinbaum Warns of Sanctions After 2 U.S. Officials Die in Chihuahua, Says “There Is No Permission” for U.S. Operations (IB Times)

    • Two U.S. Embassy officials and two Mexican state officials were killed in a crash following an anti-cartel operation targeting drug labs in Chihuahua — and Mexican President Sheinbaum says she had no knowledge U.S. personnel were involved.

    • Sheinbaum drew a hard line: “There is no permission for foreign agents to participate in operations in our country,” and has opened a formal investigation into whether Mexican sovereignty was violated.

    • The deeper threat to Sheinbaum isn’t the crash — it’s the implication that Chihuahua state authorities may have been running a parallel security channel with U.S. agencies, bypassing federal oversight entirely.

    • The incident lands at the worst possible moment: Trump has been pushing for expanded U.S. operational involvement against cartels in Mexico, and this episode hands him both a precedent and a pressure point.

• Trump’s Crash-out Cabinet

  • Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is leaving Trump’s Cabinet after abuse of power allegations (AP)

    • Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is out, becoming the third Trump Cabinet member fired in weeks — following Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi — amid allegations of an affair with a subordinate, drinking on the job, and using staff to run personal errands for her family.

    • At least four Labor Department officials were already forced out as the investigation progressed, including her chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and the security detail member she allegedly had the affair with.

    • Chavez-DeRemer had been the rare Republican with genuine union support — the Teamsters backed her — but during her tenure the department rolled back over 60 workplace regulations, including minimum wage protections for home health care workers, mine safety rules, construction site lighting requirements, and seat belt requirements for farm workers.

    • The administration also canceled millions in grants that had helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over two decades — all while Chavez-DeRemer’s farewell statement claimed she never stopped fighting for American workers.

  • Trump’s navy secretary ousted over dispute about shipbuilding (Guardian)

    • Trump fired Navy Secretary John Phelan Wednesday — not over the Iran war, but over slow shipbuilding reforms, a deteriorating relationship with Hegseth and deputy defense secretary Steve Feinberg, and an ongoing ethics investigation into his office.

    • Feinberg appears to be the real winner: he moved to strip Phelan of authority over major shipbuilding programs before the firing, and sources say he has now consolidated control over navy acquisition and shipbuilding.

    • Phelan’s replacement is Hung Cao — a Vietnamese refugee, former Navy officer, and 2024 Virginia Senate candidate who lost to Tim Kaine — who more closely aligned with Hegseth’s cultural agenda and is now acting Navy secretary.

    • Phelan’s departure is the fifth high-ranking official out since the Iran war began, with GOP senators privately warning Lutnick, Gabbard, and Patel are next; one Republican senator summarized Trump’s mood as “he’s preparing to really let a lot of them go.”

  • …or at least that’s their story (Irish Star)

    • According to Fox News, the real reason Hegseth fired Navy Secretary Phelan was that Phelan refused to ignore a federal court order blocking Hegseth’s attempt to demote Senator Mark Kelly — a retired Navy captain whom Hegseth tried to punish for urging service members to refuse illegal orders.

    • The judge’s ruling found Hegseth had “trampled on Senator Kelly’s First Amendment freedoms” and unconstitutionally retaliated against him — meaning Phelan was fired for complying with the Constitution, while Hegseth continues running the Pentagon.

  • The FBI Director Is MIA (Atlantic)

    • Kash Patel had a full “freak-out” on April 10, frantically calling aides and members of Congress to announce he’d been fired — because he couldn’t log into a computer system; it was a technical glitch, and he was never fired.

    • Multiple current and former officials describe Patel’s drinking as a recurring national security concern: security detail members have had difficulty waking him, breaching equipment was requested to get through a locked door, and early-tenure meetings had to be rescheduled around his alcohol-fueled nights.

    • Days before the U.S. launched its war with Iran, Patel fired members of the FBI’s Iran counterintelligence squad — officials say the timing left the country dangerously shorthanded at the worst possible moment.

    • Patel has weaponized the bureau against Trump’s enemies while hollowing out its institutional capacity: agents are polygraphed to identify critics of Patel or Trump, experienced staff are being purged or quitting, and the turnover has left the FBI’s counterterrorism muscle memory — one former official’s phrase — dangerously depleted.

    • The portrait that emerges is of a director who is erratic, frequently absent, and obsessed with loyalty and merchandise aesthetics while the country is at war — “we don’t have a real functioning FBI director,” one official said.

  • FBI Director Kash Patel sues The Atlantic for article that alleged excessive drinking (PBS)

    • Kash Patel sued The Atlantic for $250 million Monday over its reporting on his alleged excessive drinking and erratic management of the FBI — the magazine said it stood by its reporting and would vigorously defend the “meritless lawsuit.”

    • Patel is following Trump’s established playbook of using defamation suits as a press suppression tool — a strategy with a mixed record: Trump’s WSJ and NYT suits were both dismissed, though CBS and ABC settled before trial.

    • The lawsuit’s claim that The Atlantic’s failure to give Patel more response time constitutes “actual malice” is a legal stretch — actual malice requires knowingly publishing falsehoods, not tight deadlines.

    • The Atlantic’s reporting was sourced from more than two dozen people; Patel’s FBI has been polygraphing employees to identify anyone who speaks critically of him — making the sourcing conditions for this kind of story unusually hostile and the reporters’ work unusually significant.

  • Southern Poverty Law Center indicted on federal fraud charges (NPR)

    • The Trump DOJ indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center Tuesday on wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering charges, alleging it secretly paid over $3 million to informants inside white supremacist groups without disclosing the program to donors.

    • The SPLC says the program — which dated to the 1980s and was shared with law enforcement — saved lives; acting AG Todd Blanche says it “manufactured the extremism it purports to oppose,” a characterization the SPLC vigorously disputes.

    • The indictment lands in a context that strains credulity: the same DOJ that fired prosecutors for insufficient evidence against Trump’s enemies, installed unlawfully appointed loyalists, and has explicitly targeted left-wing organizations is now prosecuting the country’s most prominent hate group tracker.

    • The SPLC has been a Republican target for years — the FBI severed ties with them under Kash Patel, House Republicans held hearings attacking them, and the indictment follows the organization’s documentation of Turning Point USA in its annual hate and extremism report shortly before Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

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• Drugs

  • Trump signs order fast tracking review of psychedelics for mental health disorders (NPR)

    • Trump signed an executive order directing $50 million toward psychedelic-assisted mental health treatment and ordering the FDA to fast-track review of psilocybin and ibogaine — both currently Schedule I drugs — marking the first time the FDA has offered to expedite any psychedelics.

    • The policy was apparently set in motion by a text from Joe Rogan to Trump about ibogaine, to which Trump replied “Sounds great. Do you want FDA approval? Let’s do it.” — Rogan and former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell were both present at the signing ceremony.

    • The science behind the order is more substantive than the celebrity optics suggest: a 2025 JAMA study found a single LSD dose eased anxiety and depression for months, VA trials of psychedelics for PTSD are underway in multiple states, and psilocybin has shown promise for smoking cessation.

    • The FDA will issue national priority vouchers to three psychedelics next week, potentially enabling approval in weeks — a dramatic acceleration for drugs that have been federally banned since recreational use ended government research in the 1960s.

  • Trump moves to reschedule marijuana (Politico)

    • The Trump DOJ moved FDA-approved and state-approved medical marijuana products from Schedule I to Schedule III Thursday, the most consequential federal marijuana policy shift in decades — and scheduled a June 29 hearing to expedite broader rescheduling.

    • The change doesn’t legalize marijuana federally, but gives cannabis companies significant tax relief and lends new legitimacy to medical marijuana programs in over 40 states.

    • The fingerprints of industry money are all over it: Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers, who gave $750,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee, helped persuade Trump to include reclassification in his December executive order, and a billionaire cannabis advocate who is a personal friend of Trump’s also shaped the policy.

    • Republicans are already pushing back — Sen. Tom Cotton called it “a step in the wrong direction” — while critics warn the administration is building another tobacco industry, with the cannabis industry rejoicing while patients remain an afterthought.

• Courts

  • John Roberts’s About-Face on Supreme Court Activism (Jacobin)

    • The New York Times unearthed internal memos showing Chief Justice John Roberts used the Supreme Court’s shadow docket to unilaterally block Obama’s Clean Power Plan — intervening without oral argument, without factual review, and with an explicitly prejudged outcome, according to the column’s account of the Times reporting.

    • The memos reveal Roberts did this as the same man who spent his early career crusading against judicial activism, provided Reagan’s DOJ with anti-activist talking points, and promised senators at his confirmation hearing he would merely “call balls and strikes.”

    • The specific target of Roberts’ intervention was EPA climate regulation — he apparently objected to a single blog post and declared that reducing coal emissions would cause “irreparable harm.”

    • Sirota’s bottom line: John Roberts became the exact bogeyman John Roberts warned America about, and 79 senators — including many Democrats — confirmed him anyway.

  • The Chief Justice and His Wife Took $20 Million From Firms He Rules On (Existentialist Republic)

    • A whistleblower complaint filed with congressional judiciary committees in 2022 documented that Jane Sullivan Roberts earned $10.3 million in commissions over seven years from law firms that argued cases before her husband’s court — income Roberts mischaracterized as “salary” on federal disclosure forms for sixteen consecutive years before quietly correcting it in 2023.

    • Federal law requires recusal when a spouse has a financial interest that could be substantially affected by a case’s outcome — Roberts did not recuse from more than 500 cases argued by the law firms paying his household in commissions.

    • Roberts’ response to the ethics crisis was to architect the Court’s first formal ethics code in 2023 — with no enforcement mechanism, no body to receive complaints, and no authority to impose sanctions, which the Brennan Center called designed to fail.

    • The piece’s bottom line: Thomas took gifts, Alito took flights, and Roberts mislabeled law firm money on federal forms for sixteen years — but has successfully maintained his reputation as the Court’s institutional grown-up while committing the most systematic and documented financial misconduct of the three.

• Congress

  • Some Democrats regret voting to expel George Santos (Axios)

    • Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned Tuesday moments before the Ethics Committee was set to recommend sanctions, having been found guilty of funneling $5 million in misallocated COVID funds to her own campaign — she’s also under criminal indictment and denied wrongdoing to the end.

    • Her resignation has triggered unexpected buyer’s remorse among Democrats over the 2023 Santos expulsion, with multiple members now saying they regret voting to remove him before he was convicted — Santos later pleaded guilty and got 87 months, then was pardoned by Trump.

    • The due process debate now centers on Cory Mills: Mace is forcing an expulsion vote next week, but even some Democrats say they won’t move against him while the Ethics Committee investigation is still open.

    • The precedent problem cuts both ways — some Democrats say the standard has to apply equally to both parties, while others say Congress shouldn’t be in the business of expelling members ahead of courts, judges, and juries.

  • Democratic Congressman, 80, Dies in Office After Announcing Reelection (TNR)

    • Democratic Rep. David Scott of Georgia has died at 80, becoming the fourth Democratic House member to pass away since Trump took office — all over 70, all from safe Democratic districts.

    • Scott had been planning to run for a 13th term despite visible cognitive decline: a primary opponent discovered through public records that he hadn’t voted in six consecutive elections including 2024, colleagues told Politico he struggled with detailed conversations and relied on scripts, and a rambling House floor speech about tariffs ended with his microphone being cut off.

    • His death raises the same uncomfortable question his planned candidacy already had: at what point does the Democratic Party address the pattern of elderly members in safe seats holding on well past the point of effective representation?

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• Epstein

  • DOJ inspector general to review compliance with Epstein Files Transparency Act (MaddowBlog)

    • The DOJ’s internal watchdog announced it is auditing the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, after months of congressional complaints that the DOJ has withheld documents the law requires to be released.

    • Acting AG Todd Blanche told Fox News just 12 days into his tenure that the DOJ has released everything and is “not sitting on a single piece of paper” — a claim Democrats and survivors have disputed and the Inspector General is now formally examining.

    • The audit will evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing Epstein records — with a public report promised when complete, meaning the scrutiny isn’t going away before the midterms.

    • The investigation adds to a growing pile of Epstein-related pressure on the administration: Pam Bondi dodged her congressional subpoena, the Oversight Committee is split over a Maxwell pardon, and the UK has arrested Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson — all while the White House is visibly desperate to make the story go away.

  • Oversight members split over whether to pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, committee chair says (Politico)

    • The House Oversight Committee is split on whether to support pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for her testimony in the Epstein investigation — chair James Comer called it a bad look and said Maxwell is “the worst person in this whole investigation” other than Epstein himself.

    • Maxwell has invoked the Fifth Amendment and her lawyer says she’ll only talk if Trump grants clemency — and that lawyer believes a pardon is likely, noting she was quietly moved to a minimum security facility after a two-day DOJ interview in which she told Todd Blanche she never saw Trump engage in impropriety with Epstein.

    • The conflict of interest is glaring: Trump is the only person who can grant Maxwell clemency, Maxwell’s DOJ interview was specifically designed to clear Trump, and the investigation is being conducted by a committee that answers to a Republican majority with no apparent appetite to implicate their president.

    • Democrats unanimously oppose a pardon, with ranking member Garcia calling it “a massive cover up” and “a huge slap in the face to survivors” — and calling for an investigation into why Maxwell’s prison conditions improved after her Blanche interview.

    • The investigation is gaining urgency alongside the UK’s arrest of Prince Andrew and former Ambassador Peter Mandelson for crimes related to their Epstein associations — pressure that makes the question of Maxwell’s cooperation increasingly central.

• Virginia Redistricting

  • Virginia votes to redraw congressional maps, favoring Democrats (VPM)

    • Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday bypassing the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission, triggering maps that would give Democrats 10 of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats — a net swing of roughly four seats heading into the midterms.

    • The vote is part of an escalating national tit-for-tat: Trump pushed Texas to redraw maps for GOP advantage, California Democrats responded by flipping five seats blue, and Missouri and North Carolina drew new Republican-favoring districts — Virginia is the latest move on the board.

    • The campaign shattered Virginia records at $85 million spent — with the pro-redistricting side outspending opponents three-to-one, fueled largely by dark money from national figures on both sides.

    • The result may not stand: multiple Republican lawsuits were deliberately punted by courts until after the referendum, and the Virginia Supreme Court is now expected to rule on legal challenges that could nullify the outcome entirely.

  • Republican proposes giving Democratic-leaning part of Virginia back to DC after redistricting vote (AP)

    • Republicans responded to Virginia’s redistricting referendum by introducing the “Make DC Square Again Act,” which would reverse the 1847 retrocession that returned Alexandria and Arlington to Virginia — stripping roughly 400,000 heavily Democratic voters from the state and dulling the new maps’ partisan advantage.

    • The historical justification is thin and the political motivation is transparent: Alexandria and Arlington voted 77% for Harris in 2024, and a University of Maryland historian called the bill “not even a retrocession bill — it’s really a Virginia voter suppression bill.”

    • A separate pathway being floated is a Trump executive order declaring the original retrocession unconstitutional, which would eventually force a Supreme Court ruling — conveniently landing before a court Republicans have spent decades packing.

    • The bill’s prospects in Congress are slim, but it signals the escalating national tit-for-tat over redistricting heading into the midterms, where every seat counts in a razor-thin House majority.

• Tech

  • Palantir’s summary of CEO Alexander Karp’s manifesto is generating buzz. Read the 22 bullet points. (Business Insider)

    • The 22 points are a summary of Karp’s 320-page book “The Technological Republic,” published in early 2025 — so this isn’t new thinking, it’s Karp’s long-held worldview being amplified now

    • The manifesto calls for reinstating the draft, rearming Germany and Japan, and declares that Silicon Valley has a “moral debt” and “affirmative obligation” to participate in national defense

    • Point 21 is the most nakedly ideological: certain cultures have “proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful” — with no specification of which ones, which does the work for you

    • Point 22 attacks pluralism directly: “inclusion into what?” — a dog whistle framing multiculturalism as cultural surrender

    • The Bellingcat founder nails the real point: “These 22 points aren’t philosophy floating in space — they’re the public ideology of a company whose revenue depends on the politics it’s advocating”

  • What the Palantir CEO’s ‘manifesto’ tells us about the changing face of war (France24)

    • Palantir published a 22-point manifesto Saturday calling Silicon Valley’s “engineering elite” to obligatory military service, proposing mandatory national service, rearming Germany and Japan, and declaring that some cultures have “proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful” — without specifying which ones.

    • The document is a sales brochure dressed as philosophy: Palantir’s CTO has openly described the company’s core product as “optimizing the kill chain from sensor to shooter,” it built the AI targeting system the Pentagon just asked Congress to fund at $2.3 billion, and it signed a strategic partnership with Netanyahu’s government during the Gaza campaign that killed over 70,000 Palestinians.

    • The company has flourished under Trump — $4.5 billion in 2025 revenue, more than half from government contracts, with Trump naming Palantir executives to key government roles while the company recruits former officials in return, erasing the line between vendor and government.

    • A Quincy Institute researcher puts it plainly: Palantir “should be a vendor” — instead it funds political campaigns, uses dark money to block AI regulation, and is actively trying to shape U.S. domestic and foreign policy while its founder Peter Thiel lectures about the coming of the Antichrist and calls democracy incompatible with freedom.

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• The Crossroads

  • Tech

    • Decatur Township residents sue to block $4B data center (WFYI)

      • Decatur Township residents are asking a court to overturn approval of a $4 billion Sabey Corp. data center, arguing the developer used a variance-of-use filing to deliberately bypass the full City-County Council vote that killed a similar Google data center in Franklin Township last year.

      • The legal argument is straightforward: variances are supposed to be narrow exceptions, not a workaround to rezone 130 acres of land near residential neighborhoods without council oversight.

      • A 30-year land use veteran calls the strategy “troubling” — and warns it’s already spreading, with a second developer now filing a variance to build a $2 billion data center on the east side using the same playbook.

      • Mayor Hogsett has never created a specific zoning classification for data centers, a gap residents say was deliberate and has stripped them of their rights in the process.

    • Indianapolis proposes data center zoning rules, but critics say protections fall short (WFYI)

      • Indianapolis released draft zoning rules Tuesday that would formally define data centers for the first time in Marion County, requiring a 200-foot buffer from …

      • Indianapolis released draft zoning rules Tuesday that would formally define data centers for the first time in Marion County, requiring a 200-foot buffer from residential land, capping noise at 65 decibels, and banning generator testing between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.

      • Developers would also need utility providers to verify adequate electrical and water capacity exists before breaking ground — a direct response to neighborhood concerns about energy and water demand that current rules don’t address.

      • Critics say the rules are too weak: the Citizens Action Coalition says the draft still allows high noise levels, doesn’t meaningfully restrict proximity to neighborhoods, schools, or parks, and still permits diesel generators — and has called for a moratorium that city leadership shows no appetite for.

      • The political fault line is clear: Pat Andrews, who fought the Decatur Township data center, says the city deliberately avoided zoning rules to deprive residents of their rights, while Council member Vop Osili — a 2027 mayoral candidate — says “We are not a city that will be banning something like infrastructure,” continuing, “I think many of us look upon power and data centers as infrastructure in the very same way that we view power lines, telephone lines and sewer lines.”

    • AES, Google say partnership will save customers $770 million (FOX59)

      • Google and AES Indiana have filed a proposal under state law requiring Google to cover the full cost of its proposed Monrovia data center’s electricity and infrastructure — meaning existing ratepayers wouldn’t foot the bill for a trillion-dollar company’s expansion.

      • The deal projects $770 million in savings spread over 533,000 customers across 15 years — roughly $8 per month per customer in avoided rate increases, not new savings.

      • The proposal was filed under HEA 1007, a 2025 Indiana law specifically designed to ensure large new customers bear the costs of the energy demand they create — a direct result of the policy fights over data center energy costs that have been roiling the state.

      • The IURC is expected to rule in September — and the outcome will set a precedent for how Indiana handles the roughly $1.3 billion in new energy infrastructure Google says the project requires.

  • ICE

    • US citizens detail claims of abuse by federal immigration officers (Scripps)

      • Four U.S. citizens testified at a House Democratic hearing Wednesday about abuses at the hands of federal immigration agents, including Marimar Martinez — shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October 2025 — who told lawmakers “my own government was calling me a domestic terrorist” while she was held in federal detention with bullet wounds.

      • Newly released police video from the Martinez shooting captures an agent saying “it’s time to get aggressive” moments before opening fire; DHS claimed she rammed agents, she says an agent swerved into her car, and the Justice Department ultimately dropped all charges against her.

      • A pastor, Rev. David Black, testified that masked agents struck him in the head with seven pepperballs while he protested outside an Illinois detention center — calling it “only a reflection of what is being done to people in my community who have no pulpit and platform.”

      • Stephen Miller and Tom Homan declined Democrats’ invitation to testify; Republicans called the hearing a distraction and said the focus should be on reopening DHS — a response that treats the shooting of American citizens as a procedural inconvenience.

    • Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security Department (AP)

      • The Senate passed a $70 billion budget resolution 50-48 at 3:30 a.m. Thursday to fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years — using the budget reconciliation process to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold Republicans can’t clear with only 53 seats.

      • The vote came after an all-night amendment series, with Democrats pushing amendments to lower healthcare costs and arguing that hundreds of billions for immigration enforcement is the wrong priority while families struggle with affordability.

      • The bill is now hostage to House Republican infighting: members want to add the SAVE America Act voter ID provisions and farm funding, while Sen. Kennedy warned this is “the last train leaving the station” for Republican priorities before the midterms.

      • The rest of DHS — including TSA, which has already caused airport security line backlogs — remains unfunded, and Senate Majority Leader Thune warned other department functions may run out of money before the winding budget process concludes.

    • ICE is searching for coworking space in 90 cities, including Indianapolis (IndyStar)

      • DHS is actively seeking coworking space for hundreds of ICE personnel in 90 cities including Indianapolis, as the agency continues its federally-funded expansion — on top of an existing field office and a recently leased Carmel location that was hidden from public lease databases.

      • Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett’s office learned about the latest expansion from the press, not the federal government: “We don’t welcome this presence in our community.”

      • The scale of ICE’s buildout is staggering: Congress handed the agency $75 billion through the One Big Beautiful Bill, and a separate plan calls for 92,000 additional detention beds nationwide — with Indianapolis previously considered for an 8,500-bed facility that Rep. André Carson says remains unresolved.

      • The pattern is consistent: federal officials expand ICE’s footprint in communities without notifying local governments, withhold locations from public records, and deflect questions to agencies that provide no answers.

• Corruption

  • Governor removes Dubois County sheriff from Indiana law enforcement board after failed settlement (ICC)

    • Indiana’s Law Enforcement Training Board rejected a settlement that would have let Dubois County Sheriff Tom Kleinhelter keep his law enforcement certification until 2027, sending the case back for further review — hours later, Gov. Braun removed Kleinhelter from the board he had been sitting on while it reviewed his own case.

    • The settlement’s fatal flaw, according to opponents: the board has held other officers accountable for the same violations without delay, and cutting a deal for an elected sheriff sets a troubling double standard.

    • Former ISP Superintendent Doug Carter didn’t mince words: “Mike Braun and Josh Kelley should have removed Kleinhelter months ago, and by not doing so, they have disrespected this body.”

    • The case has a Kafkaesque wrinkle: decertifying Kleinhelter won’t actually remove him from office since his authority comes from being elected, not from his certification — he could remain sheriff even without law enforcement credentials.

  • Lawmakers blast newly created special advisor position for ex-DCS director (WRTV)

    • Indiana lawmakers are raising questions about a newly created $210,000 “special advisor” position created for outgoing DCS Director Adam Krupp — a job with no description, never posted publicly, and billed to the DCS budget while reporting to the Governor’s Office.

    • Democrats say the money would be better spent hiring three additional caseworkers, noting the bitter irony that Krupp’s tenure included terminating dozens of DCS frontline workers for “operational efficiencies” — and now he’s getting a soft landing at full salary while those workers are gone.

    • The arrangement creates a governance puzzle that nobody can answer: with Krupp as special advisor, new Director Dorfmeyer running the agency, and Secretary Gloria Sachdev overseeing DCS from above, lawmakers are asking who actually makes decisions at one of Indiana’s largest and most critical agencies.

    • Braun’s office declined an on-camera interview, Republicans haven’t responded to press inquiries, and the State Personnel Department confirmed there is currently no job description — suggesting the position was created for Krupp specifically with no process, no transparency, and no clear public purpose.

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• Healthcare

  • FSSA seeks return of $200 million in improper payments to attendant care providers (ICC)

    • Indiana’s FSSA is seeking $200 million in repayments from the state’s five largest attendant care providers after audits found errors in nearly all Medicaid claims reviewed — including missing background checks for caregivers, billing for unauthorized services like physical therapy, and at least one case where a company’s own COO was listed as the patient.

    • The audit was triggered by an unexplained $150 million surge in Medicaid claims between 2021 and 2022 — a red flag the Braun administration says points to systemic abuse of a program serving elderly and disabled Hoosiers.

    • At least one provider is pushing back hard: Tendercare Home Health CEO Eric Deitchman says his company provided 150 pages of documentation per patient and has been audit-deficient-free since 1994, and warns that prepayment review could create a cash flow crisis for a business that pays 650 employees every two weeks.

    • The audits are part of a broader Medicaid crackdown that has already removed 400,000 Hoosiers from the rolls — with work requirements set to kick in January 1 that could cut even more, even as the state’s sickest patients remain and costs haven’t fallen commensurately.

  • Indiana Supreme Court will hear challenge to religious-based abortion lawsuit (FOX59)

    • The Indiana Supreme Court will take up the religious freedom challenge to Indiana’s near-total abortion ban directly, bypassing the Court of Appeals, with oral arguments set for September 10.

    • A Marion County court already granted a permanent injunction in March finding the ban imposes a “substantial burden” on religious exercise protected under Indiana’s own Religious Freedom Restoration Act — the state is now appealing that ruling.

    • The case was brought by the ACLU on behalf of five anonymous women and Hoosier Jews for Choice, whose religious beliefs include the right to abortion — a direct collision between the state’s evangelical-driven ban and the religious liberty framework Republicans themselves championed.

    • The outcome could create a broad religious exemption to Indiana’s abortion ban, effectively carving out access for a significant portion of the population whose faith doesn’t align with the state’s imposed theology.

• Christian Nationalism

  • ‘Demonic filth’: Beckwith doubles down on Westfield High School Band comments (IndyStar)

    • Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith called the Westfield High School indoor percussion ensemble’s spring show “demonic filth” because it includes classical opera selections from Carmen — a piece performed by high school ensembles across the country — and urged parents to pull their kids from public schools using vouchers.

    • The show in question is a classical music performance built around Bolero, Carmen Fantasy, and Capriccio Espagnol, themed around the tension between restraint and passion; Beckwith’s specific objection is that Carmen depicts adultery.

    • The backlash against Beckwith has been swift: the mayor of Westfield, the school district, and the Indiana Percussion Association all issued statements defending the band, which responded by rallying community support under #StandingRockStrong.

    • This is Beckwith’s second public conflict with Westfield schools — he previously threatened to push to defund the district after being disinvited from an appearance, and parents protested his visit to the school in early 2025 over his rhetoric on immigration and LGBTQ issues.

  • Beckwith calls Valparaiso Community Schools ‘woke’ after controversial visit (IndyStar)

    • Lt. Gov. Beckwith called Valparaiso Community Schools “woke” after its superintendent apologized that students were offended by individual conversations Beckwith initiated after a career fair appearance — and is demanding the superintendent resign despite the fact that McCall had already announced he’s leaving July 1.

    • The superintendent’s actual offense was promising to vet outside speakers more carefully; Beckwith’s official bio, read aloud before he spoke, included the phrase “fighting the woke agenda,” and students were held in the auditorium after the speech due to a scheduling gap they hadn’t been told about.

    • Beckwith framed the superintendent’s apology as coddling students, while also criticizing the district for allowing students to walk out in an ICE protest — a protest schools are not required to punish under Indiana law.

    • The incident fits a national pattern of conservative political attacks on public education, even as a comprehensive review of K-12 history education found no evidence of the indoctrination conservatives claim is widespread.

• Elections

  • FINANCE REPORT FEUD: Morales’ office denies Ballard campaign’s accusation of being blocked from filing (Indiana Citizen)

    • Greg Ballard’s campaign is blaming Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales for a three-week delay in providing portal login credentials that prevented them from filing their first-quarter finance report on time — forcing the campaign to release its numbers via press release instead

    • The Election Division fired back saying the blame rests with the Ballard campaign, which failed to include an email address in its original March 11 filing — meaning the system couldn’t auto-generate login credentials

    • Ballard’s campaign disputes that account, saying it tried for weeks to get portal access and only received login credentials on April 2 — two days after the first quarter closed

    • The irony is thick: a candidate running against the incumbent Secretary of State for incompetent election administration got tangled up in what his campaign is calling the incumbent’s incompetent election administration

    • Greg Ballard has raised $289,807 in his first six weeks running for Secretary of State as a Lincoln Party independent — outpacing every candidate in the race except Morales and Democratic frontrunner Beau Bayh, who have both crossed seven figures.

  • Indiana college ID voting ban goes back into effect as injunction is stayed (ICC)

    • The Seventh Circuit reinstated Indiana’s student ID voting ban Monday on an emergency motion, putting between 40,000 and 90,000 student voters back in legal limbo — with early voting for the May 5 primary already underway.

    • The state’s “election integrity” argument has a glaring hole: military IDs, VA cards, and tribal IDs without expiration dates still qualify, while student IDs — which had worked without incident for decades — were singled out as insufficiently rigorous.

    • One plaintiff, IU student Josh Montagne, voted with his student ID the day after the injunction was granted; that vote’s validity is now unclear.

    • A “reasoned decision” from the appeals court is promised within two business days — meaning this could flip again before primary day.

• And Finally this Week

  • Melania Trump is growing the White House honey program with a new beehive (AP)

    • Melania Trump announced a new White House beehive shaped like the White House, timed to the state visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla — both committed beekeepers — adding about 30 pounds of annual honey production to the existing hives’ 200-225 pounds.

    • The existing program, which dates to 2009 under Michelle Obama, produces clover honey used for White House meals, official gifts, and food bank donations.

  • “Honey Traps” in espionage, seduction for secrets (Historia Scripta)

    • Honeypotting — using romantic or sexual relationships to extract intelligence — is one of espionage’s oldest tools, dating back centuries but refined into a systematic weapon by the Soviet KGB during the Cold War.

    • KGB female agents known as “swallows” or “Mozhno girls” were deployed against Western diplomats across the globe; targets ranged from a French ambassador to a U.S. Marine guard who handed over embassy floor plans and top secret cables, serving nine years of a 30-year sentence — and at least one target, a French military attaché confronted with incriminating photos, chose suicide over exposure.

    • The standard playbook: cultivate the relationship, capture photographic evidence, then present the target with a choice between cooperation and disgrace — a formula so reliable the Washington Post reported in 1987 that most Westerners who spent time in Moscow had their own personal honeypot story.

Progressive Indiana Network: https:/www.progressiveindiana.net

Moderator:

Kacey Blundell: https://hoosierwomenforward.org/kacey-blundell/

Candidates:

Brad Meyer: https://bradmeyer.org/

Tim Peck: https://timpeckforcongress.com/

Keil Roark: https://www.keilroark.com/

Jim Graham was invited but unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.

SUMMARY:

Progressive Indiana Network hosted the final primary debate of the 2026 cycle for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, moderated by Kacey Blundell. Three candidates participated: Dr. Tim Peck, an emergency medicine physician from New Washington; Brad Meyer, a former manufacturing leader from Bloomington; and Keil Roark, a licensed electrical engineer, Navy veteran, and former UAW assembly line worker. A fourth candidate, Jim Graham, was invited but declined citing a scheduling conflict. The debate covered 11 questions across a broad range of policy areas -- including the cost of living, healthcare, education, infrastructure, immigration, data centers, and government accountability -- followed by a 15-question lightning round exposing intra-party fault lines, and closing statements from each candidate. Peck ran on a platform of rejecting corporate PAC money, reducing healthcare costs by eliminating middlemen and directing Medicare dollars to patient care, and labor-first infrastructure policy. Meyer advocated for a $20 minimum wage, Medicare for All, and a structural progressive overhaul of the economy. Roark positioned himself as the pragmatic, electable candidate, focused on ACA subsidies, a $15 minimum wage, and appealing to disaffected Republicans.

BREAKDOWN:

00:00:23 Welcome and Introductions

- Blundell introduces the debate and PIN, explains the format, and welcomes the three candidates.

- A fourth candidate, Jim Graham, was invited but could not attend due to a scheduling conflict.

- Opening statement order determined by random draw: Peck first, then Meyer, then Roark.

00:03:21 Opening Statements

- Peck introduces himself as an emergency medicine physician who co-led a bipartisan coalition to expand telemedicine ahead of the pandemic, frames the central problem as “it costs too much to work,” and pledges to accept no corporate PAC money.

- Meyer highlights 25 years in manufacturing leadership, calls for a $20 minimum wage, Medicare for All, and the first $20,000 in earnings tax-free, and argues Democrats lose by softening their message.

- Roark introduces himself as a Purdue-educated electrical engineer, Navy officer, and former UAW assembly line worker, calls for a $15 minimum wage and ACA subsidy restoration as pragmatic near-term priorities, and frames himself as the electable candidate in a conservative district.

00:09:43 Q1: What is your top priority for residents of Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, and how do you plan to achieve that?

Keil Roark

- Prioritizes reinstating ACA subsidies, passing a minimum wage increase, and repealing the “big, beautiful bill” to restore SNAP and Medicaid funding.

- Also called for a No Stock Trade Act to prohibit members of Congress from trading on insider information, and Supreme Court ethics reform.

Brad Meyer

- Top priorities: stabilize the ACA and rural health care system, and enforce the Impoundment Act to compel the executive branch to spend congressionally allocated funds.

- Called for impeachment proceedings against Trump for the Iran war and for gutting federal programs in violation of law.

Tim Peck

- Focused on the “costs too much to work” problem he hears at the doors: gas, housing, childcare, groceries, education debt, and health insurance all consume more than a paycheck provides.

- Proposed restoring war powers, first-time homebuyer assistance to compete with private equity, universal pre-K, grocery price gouging investigations, lower student loan interest rates, and reversing the big, beautiful bill’s ACA cuts.

00:15:56 Q2: How would you address rising costs of living, including housing, groceries, and health care for families in this district?

Brad Meyer

- Proposed $20/hour minimum wage, raising the non-exempt salary threshold to $100,000 for overtime purposes, and making the first $20,000 earned tax-free.

- Advocated for Medicare for All to reduce medical debt bankruptcies, ending corporate speculation in single-family housing, building more housing supply, and helping first-time buyers with down payments.

- Also called for stabilizing Social Security.

Tim Peck

- Identified corporate PAC money as the root cause -- arguing that business interests now control government, citing the current congresswoman’s Duke Energy record as a specific example.

- Proposed leveling the tax code between corporations and individuals: credit card interest rates, PE firm housing tax rates, and ACA premium taxation all favor corporations over working people.

Keil Roark

- Framed housing as primarily a supply problem stemming from the post-2008 construction slowdown, calling for tax incentives for development, low-interest loans for first-time buyers, and anti-monopoly cost controls on predatory developers.

- Tied grocery prices to fertilizer costs elevated by war, and argued ACA subsidy restoration would cut average monthly health care costs by roughly 25%.

00:21:59 Q3: What is your stance on public safety and criminal justice reform, and what specific policies would you support?

Tim Peck

- Supports funding police while also addressing the root causes that produce crime. Described a real incident from the night before -- a middle schooler waving a gun outside a high school dance in Salem -- as emblematic of the problem.

- Called for background checks, safe storage requirements, red flag laws, school-based mental health and conflict resolution, and access restrictions for those who should not have firearms.

Brad Meyer

- Framed the issue as reactive (policing and courts) versus proactive (addressing poverty and lack of hope).

- Criticized the country’s failures on mental health, addiction policy, and recidivism -- noting that roughly half of those released from prison reoffend.

- Called for body cameras and federal oversight to rebuild community trust, and argued the federal government’s retreat from consent decrees has made things worse.

Keil Roark

- Emphasized the direct link between unemployment and crime: good-paying jobs reduce recidivism.

- Called for upgraded police recruiting, training, and federal grants to struggling departments; eliminating cash bond for nonviolent offenders; and better in-prison vocational training to reduce reoffending.

00:28:19 Q4: How do you plan to support small businesses and economic growth in the suburban and rural parts of the district?

Tim Peck

- Argued that rural infrastructure is the prerequisite: broadband, transportation links, local hospitals, and schools must exist before small businesses can survive.

- Described his own community’s situation -- local hospital closed, fiber internet only recently arrived, limited transport to urban centers -- as the lived reality of rural economic hollowing.

Keil Roark

- Drew on his own blue-collar background in construction to argue for protecting small business tax deductions for equipment, materials, and operating costs.

- Called for working with local mayors and county leaders to identify specific infrastructure and economic development needs, then targeting tax incentives accordingly.

Brad Meyer

- Outlined four steps: reduce barriers to starting businesses (limit non-competes, pass Medicare for All to decouple health insurance from employment); strengthen the local economy through minimum wage and overtime policy; expand capital through the Small Business Administration; and invest in broadband, infrastructure, and workforce development.

- Noted that Kentucky receives roughly twice Indiana’s federal funding, and called that a failure of congressional representation.

00:34:39 Q5: What steps would you take to improve access to affordable health care for Hoosiers, given Indiana’s rankings near the bottom nationally for maternal mortality, mental health access, public health funding, and hospital costs?

Brad Meyer

- Short-term: reinstate ACA subsidies, expand telehealth and preventive care, increase rural provider reimbursement rates, and support mobile EMS units.

- Long-term: advocated for Medicare for All, arguing the for-profit system is unsustainable -- Americans die earlier and go bankrupt more than in comparable countries.

- Offered a personal story about using Planned Parenthood when he and his wife were young and low-income, and expressed strong support for restoring it.

Keil Roark

- Called for reinstating ACA subsidies and updating ACA language to include tax incentives for demonstrated preventive care activities -- citing Japan’s system as a model for how preventive care reduces downstream costs.

- Supported repealing the big, beautiful bill, whose Medicaid and SNAP cuts are putting severe pressure on district hospitals.

Tim Peck

- Described the EMS crisis in his own community: no local hospital, local fire department does not run EMS on weekends, and the next closest ambulance may be unavailable or transporting someone to Kentucky.

- Argued that without universal insurance coverage, rural hospitals cannot stay open -- and without hospitals, EMS collapses with them.

- Called for eliminating prior authorization, banning pharmacy benefit managers, and ensuring Medicare tax dollars go directly to patient care rather than executive bonuses and shareholder payouts.

00:41:50 Q6: How should the federal government support education and what changes would you advocate for schools in the district, given Indiana’s rankings of 37th in K-12 funding, 37% grade-level reading rate, and 39th in teacher pay?

Keil Roark

- Called for funding teacher assistants, after-school programs, and dramatically higher teacher pay, arguing that without better compensation, districts cannot attract STEM professionals.

- Drew on his experience as an Ivy Tech instructor and Navy recruiter -- noting he saw many enlistment candidates fail the ASVAB because of weak math skills -- as evidence of the STEM gap.

Tim Peck

- Argued that Mike Braun and the state Republican majority will not raise teacher pay, so the federal government must act through its leverage over funding.

- Proposed tying federal education dollars to living-wage requirements for teachers and prohibiting those funds from flowing into private school voucher programs.

- Supported universal pre-K as a bipartisan investment with a measurable return, noting a Republican-authored bill already exists on the subject.

Brad Meyer

- Called for restoring and protecting the Department of Education, which channels roughly $3 billion in Title I funds to Indiana’s struggling schools.

- Supported universal pre-K and a national child care program, and called for better congressional coordination of over a dozen federal adult education and retraining programs.

- Argued that state leaders bear primary responsibility and are failing, and that federal pressure must be applied.

00:48:17 Follow-Up: Should the federal Department of Education be kept or returned to the states?

Keil Roark

- Supports keeping the Department. Argued that federal funding leverage is real -- Indiana will listen when dollars are at stake -- and that the Department provides essential national oversight of graduation rates, credentialing, and curriculum standards that states cannot self-police.

Tim Peck

- Supports keeping a well-funded, centralized Department. Argued that federal dollars give Congress the power to require states to fund public education rather than divert money into voucher programs, which Indiana has done and plans to expand.

Brad Meyer

- Supports keeping the Department, emphasizing its role as an independent evaluator of school performance -- one the administration wants to eliminate specifically to hide what privatization is doing to student outcomes.

- Called the proposed elimination a “shell game”: Trump will increase military spending and defund education, then send responsibility to states that will let it collapse, causing the $3 billion Indiana has historically received to simply vanish.

00:54:21 Q7: What is your position on infrastructure spending -- roads, broadband, and public transportation -- for the 9th District?

Tim Peck

- Argued that federal infrastructure money should be conditioned on worker protections and fair wages -- the PRO Act does exactly that and has bipartisan support, but Speaker Johnson will not put it on the floor.

- Described the broadband rollout in his rural community as a cautionary tale: subcontractors using questionable labor are breaking things that union workers then have to fix, spending the money twice.

Keil Roark

- Called for local mayors and county councils to serve as the clearinghouse for infrastructure priorities -- they know which roads, bridges, and fiber connections are needed and where.

- Supported federal funding for roads, bridges, broadband, and school improvements as long as it is tied to genuine community needs and balanced between maintenance and new development.

Brad Meyer

- Noted over 1,000 deficient bridges and another 1,000 in disrepair in Indiana; an aging electric grid unable to keep pace with growth; and neglected water treatment infrastructure.

- Argued the federal government’s core role is to fund the big, expensive, long-term things local communities cannot handle alone, and that Congress must work with regional and state officials to target that money effectively.

01:00:26 Q8: How would you approach border security and immigration policy?

Keil Roark

- Opposed defunding ICE but called it broken -- citing the firing of Noem as evidence -- and called for stronger recruiting standards, body cameras, and accountability.

- Supports strict border security and wants to reinstitute a strengthened E-Verify to hold employers accountable for hiring undocumented workers.

Tim Peck

- Argued Congress has shamefully abdicated its power by failing to push back on Trump’s legally invalid “invasion” rationale for blocking asylum cases, which a federal judge has since rejected.

- Supports stronger borders through more judges, more officers, and better drug detection equipment -- along with a faster, fairer asylum adjudication process, rather than releasing claimants into the country for years while their cases wait.

Brad Meyer

- Led an anti-ICE protest at Camp Atterbury in August and supports rolling back current ICE expansion -- but acknowledged that doing so only returns policy to 2024, which was also inadequate.

- Reframed immigration as an economic issue: the U.S. labor participation rate has declined for 40 years and the country needs more workers; immigration policy should be redesigned to bring workers in legally, with dignity, in a controlled and values-consistent way.

01:06:18 Q9: As the district’s congressman, what actions would you take to address environmental concerns raised by data center development while balancing economic growth?

Brad Meyer

- Opposed irresponsible data center implementation; called for establishing clear national standards for responsible siting, requiring transparent permitting (without NDAs or gag orders on communities), engaging the EPA, and ensuring the grid can handle additional load.

- Called community gag orders potentially illegal and argued local residents must have more power in the process.

Tim Peck

- Argued data center companies, unlike casinos, make private deals with governments before communities can weigh in, then consume water and drive up electricity prices with no community benefit.

- Called for transparency and accountability before construction, noting that casinos historically deliver community infrastructure as part of their deals and data centers do not.

Keil Roark

- Called for clear value propositions: communities must know the tax revenue, lease terms, maintenance agreements, and ownership structure before ground is broken.

- Supported using the EPA and Department of Energy to clamp down on reckless development, and praised local moratoriums already in place in some counties as a model.

01:12:34 Q10: How will you ensure transparency and accountability in your role if elected to Congress?

Keil Roark

- Called for aggressive use of committee hearings and subpoena power to force administration officials to testify under oath, arguing that contempt of Congress and pleading the Fifth are themselves accountability tools that create political pressure.

- Said he would seek assignments on the Veterans Committee or STEM Committee.

Brad Meyer

- Described a long list of current administration abuses: replacing inspectors general, using unconfirmed acting agency heads, resisting subpoenas, weakening White House visitor log transparency, relaxing ethics waivers, and undermining the FEC.

- Called for structural reforms including a healthcare amendment, balanced budget amendment, and election finance reform.

- Acknowledged that Congress itself has done “a suck-egg job” of oversight and said he would not take corporate PAC money once campaign finance reform is passed legislatively -- but declined to unilaterally disarm during the current cycle, arguing the campaign will need $3 million or more.

Tim Peck

- Pledged no corporate PAC money and called out his opponents for not making the same pledge.

- Said he has already signed the Take Back Accountability in Congress pledge along with 70 other Democratic challengers -- committing to no corporate PACs, a five-year lobbying moratorium after leaving office, a four-term limit, and no individual stock trading.

- Called for restoring checks and balances on the Supreme Court and reclaiming war powers and the power of the purse from the executive.

01:20:33 Speed Round

- Federal moratorium on new data center construction: Meyer no, Peck no, Roark no

- Expand the Supreme Court beyond nine justices: Roark no, Peck no, Meyer no

- Statehood for DC and Puerto Rico: Peck yes, Meyer yes to Puerto Rico, Roark yes (both)

- Constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College: Meyer yes, Roark no, Peck yes

- Federal legalization of recreational cannabis: Meyer yes, Roark no (too many unknowns), Peck yes

- FISA reauthorization as currently written: Roark no, Meyer no, Peck no

- Withhold military aid to Israel: Peck yes, Roark no in certain circumstances, Meyer partially

- Impeach President Trump: Meyer yes (for the Iran war), Roark yes (for Impoundment Act violations), Peck yes (depending on the article)

- Free public higher education: Roark no (expanded: merit-based in high-demand fields with payback requirement), Peck pathway to get there (expanded: removing barriers is a national security and workforce imperative), Meyer yes for the first year (expanded: real education costs have risen 10x since 1970 -- this was intentional and must be fixed)

- Cancel all outstanding student debt: Peck no (not all of it), Meyer yes, Roark no (merit-based forgiveness for teachers and doctors who serve required years)

- Federally funded child care: Meyer yes (funding mechanism still unresolved), Roark yes with a cost cap, Peck tax incentives for small businesses

- Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker: Peck no, Roark no, Meyer no

- Federal assault weapons ban: Meyer yes, Peck yes, Roark not necessarily (depends on the weapon)

- Abolish the federal death penalty: Meyer no (struggles with it), Roark no (capital punishment necessary in some cases), Peck yes

- Federal minimum wage by 2030: Roark $22-23/hour, Peck low 20s, Meyer $20 now then adjust as needed

01:30:09 Closing Statements

- Roark closes by arguing he is the only candidate who can win over disenfranchised Republicans in a deeply red district, citing Peck’s 55,000-vote loss last cycle as evidence that progressive candidates struggle in the general, and framing his economy-and-jobs message as the path to November.

- Meyer pushes back directly on Roark’s “safe bet” framing, arguing that every major progressive victory in American history -- Social Security, Medicare, civil rights -- came from courage rather than caution, and closes: “the meek may inherit the earth, but they’re never going to take back the House.”

- Peck argues something has changed in the district -- 700-person rallies in towns of 3,000, Republicans at the doors saying it costs too much to work -- and that the moment calls for a candidate who has built the organizing infrastructure to win, not just the right positions.

01:37:01 Moderator’s Closing Remarks

- Blundell thanks the candidates and PIN, notes early voting is underway, and closes by calling the primary winner’s general election race one of the most consequential midterm elections in modern American history.

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They’re visible.

They’re in the empty homes you pass walking through town.
They’re in the factories that used to employ generations.
They’re in the hospitals struggling to stay open and the families trying to hold it all together.

In this episode, I sat down with Austin Meives, a Democratic candidate running for Indiana’s 23rd State House District, to talk about what’s actually happening on the ground in communities like Logansport, Peru, Mexico, and around Grissom.

And this wasn’t a polished, rehearsed conversation.

It was real.

Austin brings a perspective rooted in the district itself—someone who understands how interconnected these communities are, from the rivers that run through them to the economic forces shaping them.

One of the first things that stood out was his rejection of “one-size-fits-all” policy.

Because what works in Indianapolis doesn’t always work in Peru.
And what helps one town upstream can impact everyone downstream.

That idea carries through everything we talked about.

We dug into economic development—and why relying on tax cuts alone hasn’t delivered for small towns. Factories close, jobs disappear, and communities are left trying to rebuild without the tools they need.

We talked about healthcare—and how rural hospitals struggle to compete, leading to fewer providers, higher costs, and people falling through the cracks. His perspective wasn’t theoretical—it came from watching it happen firsthand.

We got into education and workforce development—why preparing students for today’s economy means starting earlier, thinking differently, and investing in skills that actually match where jobs are going.

And we didn’t avoid the harder conversations either:

• The future of family farms and rising costs

• Infrastructure that hasn’t kept pace in decades

• Broadband gaps still holding communities back

• Housing challenges and abandoned properties

• The role of state government when markets fail

What stood out most was the throughline:

People feel like they’re not being heard.

And when people stop believing their voice matters, they stop showing up altogether.

Austin made it clear that, for him, representation isn’t about party first—it’s about people first. That means town halls, direct conversations, and being willing to push back—even against your own party—if it’s what the district needs.

And like always, we put that to the test in Hold ’em or Fold ’em—where positions get clear, fast.

What you’ll see here isn’t a candidate trying to fit into a mold.

It’s someone trying to respond to a district that doesn’t fit into one.

And in a place like District 23…

that might be exactly what voters are looking for.

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Progressive Indiana Network: https:/www.progressiveindiana.net

Moderator:

Scott Aaron Rogers: https://www.hoosleft.us

Candidates:

William Kory Amyx: https://amyxforcongress.com/

Nick Baker: https://electnickbaker.com/

Cinde Wirth: https://wirth4congress.com/

David Boyd was invited and and confirmed but pulled out of this debate citing to a scheduling conflict.

SUMMARY:

Progressive Indiana Network hosted a Democratic primary debate for Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, featuring moderator Scott Aaron Rogers and candidates William Kory Amyx, Nick Baker, and Dr. Cinde Wirth. A fourth candidate, David Boyd, was invited and confirmed but withdrew citing a scheduling conflict. The debate covered ten questions on foreign policy, technology accountability, immigration, affordability, healthcare, education, human rights, taxation, social security, and labor, followed by a fifteen-question speed round and closing statements. The candidates showed clear ideological distinctions throughout, particularly on healthcare — with Amyx and Wirth supporting universal single-payer and Baker advocating a public option — and on immigration, where Amyx and Wirth called for abolishing ICE and Baker opposed that position. The speed round revealed unanimous agreement on several issues including data center moratoriums, DC and Puerto Rico statehood, abolishing the Electoral College, cannabis legalization, FISA reauthorization, impeaching Trump, and opposing Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker, while the candidates split on an assault weapons ban, student debt cancellation, free higher education, and abolishing the federal death penalty.

BREAKDOWN:

00:00:22 Opening and introductions

- Scott Aaron Rogers opens the debate on behalf of Progressive Indiana Network, introducing the 6th Congressional District race.

- Candidates introduced: William Kory Amyx, Nick Baker, and Dr. Cinde Wirth; David Boyd was invited and confirmed but withdrew at the last minute citing a scheduling conflict.

- Format outlined: two-minute opening statements, ten questions with 90-second responses, a fifteen-question speed round, and closing statements.

00:02:49 Opening statements

- Amyx leads, citing 23,000 doors knocked across 11 counties and a focus on affordability, healthcare, education, public safety, and economic dignity.

- Baker follows (order swapped due to technical difficulties with Wirth), highlighting his Camp Lejeune Supreme Court case, a push for a balanced budget through healthcare reform, and an argument that he is the most electable candidate in a conservative district.

- Wirth closes, introducing herself as a seventh-generation 6th District resident, public school teacher, small business owner, and PhD scientist, and citing her 2022 run against Greg Pence as proof of her commitment to the district.

00:08:10 Q1: Separation of powers and the war with Iran

- Rogers frames the question around the Iran war, sweeping tariff authority, and the revival of impoundment powers, asking what each candidate would do to reassert congressional authority and what their position is on the war.

- Baker calls the war illegal and unconstitutional, argues for winning back the House majority to challenge executive overreach through legislation.

- Amyx proposes replacing the War Powers Resolution with a modern version requiring affirmative congressional authorization within 30 days, automatic funding cutoffs for unauthorized hostilities, congressional approval windows for tariffs, and reform of the National Emergencies Act.

- Wirth argues Congress members who took an oath to defend the Constitution have a duty to hold domestic enemies accountable, and calls for restoring the State Department’s professional diplomatic corps to end the Iran conflict.

00:15:12 Q2: Tech accountability and Section 230

- Rogers uses the discovery of a network of online chat groups called “Rape Academy” with an estimated 62 million members as the entry point for a question on platform liability and Section 230 reform.

- Amyx calls for full repeal of Section 230 and introduces two pieces of draft legislation: the Real Identity Integrity Act (tokenized logins to verify identity while preserving anonymity) and the Digital Integrity and Algorithmic Accountability Act (algorithmic transparency requirements).

- Wirth draws on her classroom experience with cyberbullying, calls for guardrails on big tech, and argues the root problem is money blocking legislation that has been proposed repeatedly over 15 years.

- Baker calls Silicon Valley the “Wild West,” applauds a New Mexico verdict against Meta for hosting child predators, references Indiana’s Haley’s Law, and cautions against regulation that tips into censorship.

00:21:32 Q3: Immigration and ICE

- Rogers frames the question around the removal of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, ICE shootings of U.S. citizens, and a Democratic base that increasingly supports abolishing ICE.

- Wirth states she called for abolishing ICE last summer and co-organized an anti-ICE rally at Johnson County Park in Atterbury; she supports retaining professional Customs and Border Protection at ports of entry while eliminating ICE entirely.

- Baker opposes full abolishment, arguing ICE can be returned to how it functioned under Clinton and Obama — deporting people lawfully without the abuses of the current administration; warns that “abolish ICE” messaging will cost votes in a conservative district.

- Amyx introduces his Unity Pathway Act: provisional legal status for undocumented individuals, a pathway to a green card after five years, and replacement of ICE with a new Immigration Enforcement Service refocused on trafficking networks, cartel operations, and violent criminals rather than families and workers.

00:28:20 Q4: Affordability

- Rogers presses all three on the affordability crisis, noting that “we’ll lower costs” is a talking point, not a policy, and asking for root causes and specific solutions.

- Amyx cites real wage data (3.3% price increases vs. 0.3% real hourly earnings growth in March), and outlines a structural approach: raise wages with small business offsets, universal healthcare to cut costs, expand housing supply, and treat child care as an economic investment.

- Baker points to insurance as the largest inflationary metric — with profits up fourfold while premiums rose 10-21% — and argues for reforming healthcare overhead, returning tax revenue to communities, and raising the minimum wage.

- Wirth argues Medicare for All would give every family an effective lift of approximately $24,000 through 2-3% administrative overhead, calls for CEO pay accountability, enforcement of antitrust laws, and investment in 50 million affordable housing units.

00:34:30 Q5: Healthcare

- Rogers uses a direct Baker quote from a Hancock County forum — “I would love the dream of universal healthcare to come true, but I don’t think right now it’s a workable solution” — to open a deeper discussion on how each candidate would get to their preferred healthcare system.

- Baker clarifies he does not support propping up the ACA, which he calls broken, and instead supports a public option he describes as “Medicare for More” — leaving a capitalistic private market open while eliminating administrative waste; he says universal healthcare would require a two-thirds congressional majority.

- Wirth cites polling showing over 70% of Americans support single-payer in some form, advocates a phased-in approach funded through payroll taxes and a wealth tax on investment gains, and proposes job transition programs for insurance industry workers displaced by the change.

- Amyx agrees with Wirth that preventative care is critical, supports universal healthcare but opposes a sudden transition that could “crush” rural hospitals, and calls for phased implementation with Medicare negotiating drug prices, capped out-of-pocket costs, and strengthened rural care.

00:41:19 Q6: Education

- Rogers frames the question around Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education, Title I cuts, student debt, and the teacher exodus from the profession.

- Amyx, who has worked in higher education for 22 years as a financial aid officer and veterans advisor, calls for increased Title I and IDEA funding, ending the voucher program, paying teachers at the same level as ICE agents (over $100,000), expanding career and technical education, and making all students independent at 18 for FAFSA purposes.

- Baker predicts the Department of Education may need to be “resurrected” by January, supports increased federal funding, and proposes using litigation to challenge religious institutions that accept vouchers while discriminating — arguing that’s a case winnable even in the current Supreme Court.

- Wirth, whose PhD is in cultural and educational policy, calls vouchers a tool for segregation dating to the post-Brown v. Board era, calls for overturning Espinoza v. Montana, restoring teacher loan eligibility, protecting IDEA, and ending the use of public tax dollars in private schools that can expel students at will.

00:47:54 Q7: LGBTQ rights and the Newsom debate

- Rogers frames the question around Gavin Newsom’s call for Democrats to be more “culturally normal,” the backlash from LGBTQ advocates, and where candidates draw the line between political pragmatism and abandoning vulnerable constituents.

- Wirth, an anthropologist, flatly rejects Newsom’s framing — “there is no cultural normalcy” — calls trans rights human rights, and recounts changing attendance rosters by hand to protect trans students before it was widely discussed, as far back as 2010.

- Baker says he supports liberty and government staying out of people’s personal lives, but expresses personal reservations about gender-affirming care for minors and trans athletes in certain sports settings, framing it as a political liability in the district.

- Amyx, who is gay and the only LGBTQ candidate in the race, calls human rights non-negotiable, says he knows firsthand what it means to hide who you are, and states he will never back down on trans rights or compromise on anyone’s humanity.

00:54:06 Q8: Taxation and the wealth tax

- Rogers uses Newsom’s opposition to a wealth tax — framing it as making room for billionaires in the Democratic tent — against the Warren/Sanders barnstorming tour arguing the opposite, and asks where each candidate stands on taxing the wealthy and reorienting the tax code.

- Baker calls for a complete overhaul of the tax code, more progressive brackets at $1M, $10M, $100M, and $1B income thresholds, and closing loopholes — while also proposing cutting corporate taxes to incentivize reinvestment over executive pay extraction.

- Amyx proposes eliminating the federal income tax entirely for individuals earning under $75,000 (and couples under $150,000), offset by a targeted 1% wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy with tens of millions in accumulated assets.

- Wirth supports a 2-3% tax on billionaire investment gains to fund childcare infrastructure and other programs, and calls for corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share rather than spending on tax avoidance.

01:00:23 Q9: Social Security solvency

- Rogers frames the Social Security shortfall — projected insolvency by 2032 with an automatic 28% benefit cut — and contrasts Republican privatization proposals with the progressive solution of lifting the payroll tax cap above $184,500.

- Wirth supports raising the cap to approximately $425,000, opposes privatization entirely, and calls for laws protecting the Social Security fund from being used as a “piggy bank.”

- Amyx acknowledges lifting the cap helps but notes economists say even a full cap elimination only closes 70-80% of the 75-year shortfall; says he favors eliminating the cap entirely but admits the full solution requires additional mechanisms he hasn’t fully resolved.

- Baker supports raising the Social Security tax threshold to $400,000-$500,000, argues the deeper problem is the national debt (grown from $13T to $39T since 2010), and references the Simpson-Bowles framework — two-thirds cuts, one-third revenue — as a model for long-term solvency.

01:06:39 Q10: Labor and the union drift to Republicans

- Rogers asks candidates to diagnose why blue-collar private-sector union members have been drifting Republican for decades, and what they would do in Congress to win back not just union leadership endorsements but rank-and-file votes.

- Baker attributes part of the drift to right-to-work laws and pivots to data centers — arguing no candidate can win this district supporting them, citing Decatur Township specifically, and noting that construction jobs last a year or two while the centers then employ fewer people than a Cracker Barrel.

- Wirth, who identifies as the only active labor union member (AFT/AFL-CIO) running for Congress in Indiana, supports the PRO Act and repeal of right-to-work, argues labor unions are being used as pawns in data center promotion, and attributes the trade union drift to sexism — noting trade unions are male-dominated while the professions drifting Democratic are female-dominated.

- Amyx says the cost of living is overriding party loyalty, Democrats haven’t been listening (citing his 23,000 doors across both parties), and that Republicans have mastered “respect for workers” messaging even when their policies don’t match; identifies cultural disconnect, institutional distrust, immigration anxiety, and “identity-first” Democratic messaging as contributing factors.

01:13:38 Speed round

- Federal moratorium on new data center construction: Amyx yes, Baker yes, Wirth yes

- Expand the Supreme Court beyond nine justices: Wirth yes, Baker no, Amyx yes

- Statehood for DC and Puerto Rico: Baker yes, Amyx yes, Wirth yes

- Constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College: Amyx yes, Wirth yes, Baker yes

- Federal legalization of recreational cannabis: Amyx yes, Baker yes, Wirth yes

- FISA reauthorization: Wirth no, Amyx no, Baker no

- Withhold military aid to Israel: Baker no, Wirth yes, Amyx yes

- Impeach President Trump: Amyx yes, Wirth yes, Baker yes

- Free public higher education: Wirth yes, Baker no, Amyx yes

- Cancel all outstanding student debt: Baker no, Amyx yes, Wirth yes

- Universal federally funded child care: Amyx yes, Wirth yes, Baker yes

- Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker: Baker no, Wirth no, Amyx no

- Federal assault weapons ban: Amyx yes, Baker no, Wirth yes

- Abolish the federal death penalty: Amyx no, Wirth yes, Baker no

- Federal minimum wage by 2030: Wirth declined to give a number (living wage tied to local cost of living), Baker $15, Amyx $23 (toward a $25/hr target by 2031)

01:19:18 Closing statements

- Amyx closes on listening before leading — 24,000 doors, real solutions built with constituents, a contrast with “standard politicians.”

- Baker closes on electability — asking voters whether they want the most progressive candidate or the most electable progressive, and arguing his campaign gives Democrats the best shot at flipping the seat, which last went Democratic in 1939 under Finly Gray.

- Wirth closes by invoking her 2022 run against Greg Pence when no one else would, her work across all 11 counties, and a vision of single-payer healthcare, living wages, affordable childcare, fully funded public schools, and being “the first Democratic woman to represent” the 6th District.

###

Rogers closes the event, thanks the candidates and PIN notes early voting is underway with primary day May 5th, and calls the winner’s general election race one of the most consequential midterm elections in modern American history

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https://progressiveindiana.net

SUMMARY:

Rev. Tony Alexander opens the program with a wide-ranging discussion of data center proliferation across Marion County townships, pressing lawmakers for the guardrails they declined to put in place months earlier. Pike Township Trustee Annette Johnson joins to explain the trustee office’s emergency assistance role and her reelection campaign. In the second half, Concerned Clergy President Pastor David W. Greene Sr. returns to discuss the grassroots momentum pushing politicians on data centers, Governor Braun’s signing of a public camping ban, and Greene’s own affordability-first state legislative campaign. The program closes with voting reminders ahead of the May 5th primary.

WHAT’S INSIDE

00:00:27 Introduction and how to tune in

- Listeners can tune in live Wednesday nights at 7pm on Praise AM 1310 / 95.1 FM, Facebook, or YouTube (Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis page).

- Call-in number: 317-480-1310.

00:01:58 Data centers: Carson announces legislation, council proposes guardrails

- Congressman André Carson announced today that he will introduce legislation related to data centers, with details expected tomorrow.

- The city-county council is also now proposing guardrails — something Alexander notes they had the opportunity to do when they voted on the Metrobloks data center in Martindale Brightwood and declined.

- Alexander points out that Councilor Jesse Brown proposed transparency measures in the Democratic caucus and was voted down, only for colleagues to now embrace the same idea months later.

- Community asks include: transparency on facility size, energy usage and demand, infrastructure impacts, and binding community benefit agreements.

00:05:25 Townships fighting alone — and what comes next

- Communities in Decatur, Franklin Township, Pike Township, and Martindale Brightwood are all battling data center proposals with no coordinated legislative cover.

- Alexander argues the burden fell unfairly on individual councilors like Jesse Brown while the broader caucus stayed silent.

- A DC Blox data center meeting is scheduled for next Monday at Downey Avenue Christian Church, 111 South Downey Street (Council District 14), hosted by City-County Councilor Andy Nielsen; livestreamed as well — search “DC Blox” (B-L-O-X) to register.

00:09:04 Voting reminders: Marion County primary

- Mail-in ballot application deadline: Thursday, April 23 at 11:59 PM.

- Satellite early voting locations open this Saturday at township government centers in Decatur, Franklin, Perry, and Warren townships.

- Pike Township early voting: Pike Township Public Library, Fort Ben branch library, Krannert Park, and St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (86th Street).

- City-County Building early voting already open; closes May 4 at noon.

- Election Day: May 5th.

00:12:04 Guest: Annette Johnson, Pike Township Trustee — role and funding

- Johnson is in her eighth year as trustee (second four-year term), having previously served 14 years on the township board.

- The trustee’s office provides emergency assistance — utilities, mortgage, rent, clothing, school uniforms, food vouchers, diapers, and supplies for expectant mothers — funded entirely by the local township tax base.

- Pike Township is one of only three Marion County townships with a standalone fire department, which makes up the largest share of its budget.

- To qualify: must live in the township (verified by zip code), present ID, and document an emergency that occurred within the past 30 days — layoff, hours cut, medical leave, or fire damage.

00:17:13 Federal and state funding cuts: pressure on the trustee’s office

- Alexander raises the concern that federal and state funding sources are disappearing — will trustees have to absorb the slack?

- Johnson says the office hasn’t hit that wall yet but predicts it within two to three years.

- She is building relationships with churches and community organizations now to help fill any future void.

- Johnson notes the township’s budget is fixed to the local tax base across three areas: emergency assistance, small claims court, and the fire department.

00:22:19 Top issue: utility bills / How the 30-day rule works

- The number one presenting issue right now is utility bills, which Johnson calls out of control.

- Johnson works with the Winter Assistance Fund (WAF) — she matches WAF’s $800 contribution from township funds, reducing a $2,000 bill to $1,600, for example.

- Johnson’s goal is to pay the full balance so clients leave with a zero balance; she pays senior citizens’ bills in full without exception.

- The 30-day rule refers to a qualifying emergency within the last 30 days — typically a pending disconnection notice, not the age of the debt itself.

- Johnson does not cover reconnection deposits — only pre-disconnection balances; she called on state legislators to update the restrictive guidelines governing trustee assistance levels.

00:26:29 Re-election pitch and campaign contact info

- Johnson’s three-part platform: protect the Pike Township Fire Department, expand innovative assistance programs, and be a powerful community voice.

- Community priorities she’ll advocate for beyond the trustee role: opposing data centers, Save Eagle Creek, and keeping charter schools out of Pike Township in favor of public schools.

- She recently held an essential goods giveaway with Walmart donations and plans to continue community-facing events.

- Contact: AnnetteJohnson2026.com | 317-418-7801

00:30:38 Pastor David W. Greene Sr. joins: Data centers and grassroots pressure

- Greene attributes the recent pivot by Carson and the city-county council to sustained grassroots pressure, not top-down leadership — politicians are recalculating mid-election.

- Save Eagle Creek yard signs are now ubiquitous across Pike Township; Greene notes the coalition organized entirely from the bottom up.

- Decatur Township residents have filed a lawsuit over the rezoning of a data center there; a new data center was also announced on another side of Indianapolis.

- Greene called out the Council’s treatment of Brightwood residents who came to speak at a recent hearing involving Councilor Ron Gibson.

- Greene praised Trustee Johnson for going beyond her job description to fight on data centers, Eagle Creek, and public education.

00:35:24 Community benefit agreements and the DC Blox meeting

- Alexander lays out what communities are asking for: transparency on size, energy demand, and infrastructure impacts, plus binding community benefit agreements before any approval.

- Greene agrees: “It’s time out for trying to do something to the community and not with the community.”

- Greene draws a distinction — not all politicians are on the wrong side; Johnson is an example of an elected official going above and beyond her role to fight for the community.

- A DC Blox data center meeting is scheduled for next Monday at Downey Avenue Christian Church, 111 South Downey Street (Council District 14), hosted by City-County Councilor Andy Nielsen; the meeting will also be livestreamed — search “DC Blox” (B-L-O-X) to register.

00:39:18 Governor Braun’s public camping ban: homelessness is a condition, not a crime

- Governor Mike Braun signed legislation banning public camping across Indiana — targeted, both hosts note, primarily at Indianapolis.

- Greene: homelessness is not a crime, it’s a condition — and conditions require solutions, not punishment.

- A $500 fine and Class C misdemeanor won’t solve homelessness; Greene argues it will deepen it by damaging credit and creating warrant exposure for people who can’t pay or appear in court.

- Greene serves on the Mayor’s Leadership Council on Homelessness and calls for expanding affordable housing, mental health care, addiction treatment, and employment pathways instead.

00:44:06 The moral argument: money isn’t the problem, will is

- Greene challenges the “we don’t have the money” framing — the state is simultaneously pursuing the Chicago Bears stadium and handing out decades-long tax breaks to data centers.

- Alexander adds: federal spending on war and other priorities dwarfs what it would cost to fund early childhood care, Medicaid, and homeless services.

- The fastest-growing homeless population, Greene notes, is women with children — meaning the law risks family separation on top of everything else.

- Greene: “Becoming homeless is not a crime. It’s a condition. It’s not a crime. It never has been.”

00:47:29 Pastor Greene’s state legislative campaign

- Green is running on an affordability-first platform in a district covering Wayne Township, Pike, Zionsville, and West Carmel.

- Key pressures he hears across the district: unaffordable childcare, inaccessible healthcare, seniors rationing medication, renters and homeowners unable to keep up with rising costs.

- Additional priorities: fully funding public education, saving Eagle Creek (Green lives near the reservoir and warns an environmental accident from data center water usage is a matter of when, not if).

00:50:42 Closing and voting reminder

- Alexander repeats all early voting locations and deadlines.

- Mail-in ballot application closes Thursday April 23 at 11:59 PM; Election Day is May 5th.

https://concernedclergy.org

https://www.facebook.com/ClergyIndyhttps://www.facebook.com/ClergyIndy

https://progressiveindiana.net

Northwest Fort Wayne is expanding. Huntertown is building fast. Arcola is holding onto its small-town identity while the edges of growth creep closer every year.

And with that growth comes a question that too many communities are now facing:

Are we building something better… or just building faster?

In this conversation, I sat down with Sharon Wight, a Democratic candidate for Indiana State House District 81, to talk about what that growth actually means for the people living it every day.

This wasn’t theoretical.

This was lived experience.

Sharon has spent her life in this region—watching neighborhoods expand, roads strain, schools fill up, and families try to keep pace with a system that often reacts too late instead of planning ahead.

And that’s where her focus is clear:

Growth without planning isn’t progress—it’s pressure.

We dug into what that looks like on the ground:

🚧 Infrastructure that isn’t keeping up with demand
🏫 Public schools stretched thin by rising enrollment
💸 Property taxes hitting homeowners while corporations get breaks
🏥 Healthcare costs that don’t make sense for working families
🧠 Mental health systems that are underfunded and overburdened
🌱 Environmental decisions that shape the future long after development ends

But what stood out most wasn’t just the policy—it was the throughline:

Government should work from the ground up, not the top down.

Local communities know what they need.
The job of the state isn’t to override them—it’s to support them.

We also talked about:

• Why public school funding should stay in public schools

• The role of township government in real accountability

• Corporate tax abatements and who actually benefits

• Small business barriers that shouldn’t exist

• The reality of healthcare access, not just the talking points

• And what it means to serve in a legislature that doesn’t always prioritize people

And like always, this wasn’t about polished answers.

It was about real ones.

Because in a district like this—where growth is constant and pressure is real—representation can’t just show up when it’s convenient.

It has to anticipate.
It has to listen.
And it has to deliver.

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HoosLeft: https://hoosleft.us

Kirsten Root: https://www.rootforindiana.org/

SUMMARY:

Scott sits down one-on-one with Kirsten Root, Democratic primary candidate for Indiana State Senate District 21 — a district spanning all of Tipton County and parts of Hamilton and Howard counties, including Westfield, Sheridan, Tipton, and Kokomo. Kirsten is a social worker and former DCS family case manager challenging Republican incumbent Jim Buck. They talk about her background in child welfare and what it taught her about how the state punishes poverty, the real-world fallout from Mike Braun’s Senate Enrolled Act 1-2025 property tax overhaul and SEA 1-2026’s Medicaid and SNAP eligibility restrictions, the healthcare desert facing Indiana communities (including a HIP expansion proposal as a state-level public option), reproductive rights, the Iron Nation initiative and Indiana’s connection to Israeli military technology through the Applied Research Institute, utility monopoly corruption and Jim Buck’s donor ties to NiSource and Duke Energy, the Democratic Party’s neoliberal drift, corporate money in Democratic primaries, and what it’s going to take to actually fight back in the statehouse.

WHAT’S INSIDE:

00:00:23 Welcome and Introduction

- Scott introduces the HoosLeft podcast and its mission as Indiana’s unapologetically progressive independent media outlet.

- Subscription pitch: progressiveindiana.net, $5/month or $50/year.

- Social handles: @hoosleft.us (Blue Sky, Instagram, Threads); @hoosleft (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube); @progressiveindiananetwork (most platforms); @pinindiana (Blue Sky, TikTok).

00:03:15 Guest Introduction: Kirsten Root

- Democratic candidate for SD-21, challenging Republican incumbent Jim Buck.

- Second appearance on the HoosLeft family of programs; first one-on-one with Scott.

- Campaign website: rootforindiana.org.

00:04:13 Easy W’s: Who and Where

- Originally from LaPorte; now five years in Sheridan in the southern part of the 21st District.

- District covers all of Tipton County and parts of Hamilton and Howard counties.

00:05:11 Life on the Campaign Trail: The NIPSCO Picket Line

- Most memorable campaign moment: joining NIPSCO workers on the Kokomo picket line at 4:30 a.m.

- Only 17 workers directly affected by the lockout, but hundreds came from across the state in solidarity.

- NIPSCO tried to spin the lockout as community goodwill; Kirsten notes they simply didn’t have the workers to turn off the power.

- Workers expected to ratify a new contract and return by end of the week.

- Scott: Kokomo has deep UAW and labor history going back to Chrysler; NIPSCO has been a thorn in northwest Indiana’s side for generations.

00:08:15 The More Interesting W: Why

- Kirsten’s years at DCS investigating child abuse and neglect showed her how the state systematically punishes poverty rather than addressing it.

- Families working two and three jobs, leaving kids home alone, were being investigated for neglect rather than supported.

- DCS no longer requires a college degree for family case managers; her last director came from finance with no child welfare background.

- Everything flows from the state level — funding, policy authority, hiring standards.

00:12:00 SEA 1-2025 and SEA 1-2026: Real-World Consequences

- SEA 1-2025 (Braun’s property tax overhaul): sheriff’s departments can’t hire, mental health funding cut, health department budgets slashed across the district.

- Scott: the shell game — property tax “savings” are being paid for by gutted local services; rising home values have eaten most of the actual dollar savings anyway.

- Communities told they’re saving money while mayors and county councils take the blame for raising local taxes to cover the gap.

- SEA 1-2026’s Medicaid and SNAP eligibility restrictions compound the damage, targeting the same families DCS was supposed to serve.

- State also preempting local governments from enacting rent restrictions.

00:22:42 Kirsten’s Platform: Local Government and Care Before Crisis

- Restore funding and autonomy to local governments; get care in place before situations become emergencies.

- Many Indiana counties have no labor and delivery ward.

- Hamilton County — wealthiest in the state — has no SANE nurse; sexual assault survivors including children must travel out of county for a forensic exam.

- Howard County Sheriff (a Republican who endorsed her opponent) told Kirsten: no public EMS in Kokomo, no mental health capacity, no money for new training.

00:28:29 Corporate Greed as the Through-Line

- NiSource (NIPSCO’s parent) billing up 17% while profits rise a similar amount; IURC performing a show investigation.

- Blackstone continuing to buy up Indiana utilities.

- State gave Walmart $17 million in subsidies — money that could have gone to small businesses or public services.

- Kirsten: Republicans focus on demonizing SNAP recipients rather than the corporate greed driving poverty in the first place.

00:30:33 Healthcare for All Hoosiers

- Medicare for All isn’t achievable at the state level; expanding Indiana’s HIP program to create a public option available to all Hoosiers is.

- We’re already paying for everyone’s insurance — a HIP expansion makes it visible and accessible.

- Obstacle: Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), headquartered in Indianapolis, has a direct financial interest in killing any public option.

- Jim Buck’s top corporate donors: NiSource, Duke Energy, and a third utility — connected directly to his legislative record of removing utility restrictions.

00:33:14 Abortion Rights and Reproductive Healthcare

- Repealing Indiana’s near-total abortion ban is a core priority.

- OB-GYN residency programs closing because students can’t get clinical training in Indiana.

- If Republicans were actually pro-life, they would fund prenatal care in rural counties — they don’t.

- No one wants to live and work in Gilead; the ban accelerates the brain drain.

00:36:02 The Iron Nation Initiative and Indiana’s Role in Military Technology

- Scott raises the Iron Nation initiative, announced the prior week.

- piece in connects a strike on an Iranian school to technology developed in Indiana.

- Indiana’s Applied Research Institute — a public-private partnership involving IU, Purdue, and the IEDC — had a role in developing the Maven smart system.

- State investing $15 million with Israel in telecommunications technology while refusing to fund basic healthcare and education.

00:37:25 Calling Fascism What It Is

- Fascism is a spectrum — Pinochet’s Chile was free-market fascism without tanks in the streets.

- ICE detention camps where people are dying; black SUVs kidnapping people off streets — that’s fascism.

- Kirsten was asked at a dog park in Ireland what it’s like to live in a fascist country. The rest of the world already sees it.

00:39:35 Democrats’ Own Role in Getting Here

- Too many Democrats too comfortable with corporate money, corporate consolidation, corporate power.

- Mussolini defined fascism as the merger of corporation and state.

- You can’t take the corporate money and flip it for good — it taints you.

- A CD-5 candidate told Kirsten he feels like Robin Hood redistributing corporate money to downballot races; she’s not buying it.

- Secretary of state race: Beau Bayh is taking corporate money; Blythe Potter is not. Kirsten endorses Blythe Potter.

00:43:15 The Democratic Party’s Aaron Burr Problem

- Hamilton endorsed Jefferson over his friend Burr — not because he liked Jefferson, but because Jefferson stood for something.

- Aaron Burr, perpetually unwilling to pick a side, is the Democratic Party.

- FDR, the New Deal, Social Security, LBJ, Medicare, Medicaid, labor rights — Democrats built that. Then the Clinton era threw it out.

- Indiana Democrats are stuck in the Clinton era. Those corporate Democrats helped pave the road to where we are now.

00:45:18 Earning Trust: The Kokomo Pastor Conversation

- A Black pastor in Kokomo challenged Kirsten: the Democratic Party takes Black voters for granted — why are you different?

- Kirsten’s answer: he’s right to be skeptical. She’s a white woman and doesn’t ask for trust she hasn’t earned. She’ll spend every day earning it.

00:46:26 Voting for Change for 20 Years

- Obama ran as a progressive and won in a landslide; didn’t govern that way.

- Biden tried to go bigger; kneecapped by corporate Democrats like Joe Manchin.

- The lesson Trump teaches: you can go big. Democrats have been too timid.

- Because we failed to do the big things, we got more Trump. The Democratic Party has become the conservative party.

00:50:46 Why Kirsten, Not Her Opponent?

- She genuinely likes her primary opponent — but one of them will go to the statehouse and say they’ll do their best in the minority.

- The other will go to Republican counties, educate constituents, cause scenes, and fight. She’s the second one.

- Scott pushes back on the Michelle Obama “go high” doctrine: when they go low, step on them.

- Kirsten agrees: the moment demands fighters, not nice guys.

- She’s a woman who worked DCS — there is nothing anyone can say to her that she hasn’t already weathered.

00:53:30 The Negotiation Principle: Anchor to Your Values

- Centrist Democrats start from the compromise position. That’s not negotiating — it’s capitulating before the conversation starts.

- Kirsten’s social work parallel: the deal is simple — either you do these things and your life gets better, or it stays the same. That’s the only deal on the table.

00:54:44 How to Reach Kirsten Root

- Website: rootforindiana.org.

- Active on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and most other platforms.

- Town hall the following night; child safety panel Thursday.

00:55:35 Outro and Upcoming PIN Programming

- Thursday, 8 p.m.: Democratic primary debate, Indiana’s 6th Congressional District — William Kory Amyx, Nick Baker, Cinde Wirth. Moderated by Scott.

- Saturday, 2 p.m.: Online-only IN-9 congressional debate — Brad Meyer, Tim Peck, Keil Roark. Moderated by Kacey Blundell.

- Sunday, 10:30 a.m.: HoosLeft This Week — guests Destiny Wells (IN-7) and Hancock County Democratic Party Vice Chair Chuck Gill.