MANFREDEYE NEWS AND OPINIONS

I have just returned from attending a press conference. A press conference of the blogging variety. Several bloggers, some of them among the most well-respected in the area, were gathered together by Bil Browning (Bilerico) to ask questions of three progressive General Assembly candidates. They were (and still are, to the best of my knowledge) Rep. Dr. David Orentlicher (D)Dist. 86, Indianapolis, Senate challenger Russell Brown (D)IN Dist. 31, and House challenger John Barnes (D)Dist. 89, Indianapolis.

All had strong views on the need to reform health care, and all were strong proponents of committing much more strongly to education. Mr. Brown and Dr. Orentlicher were also strong supporters of full-day kindergarten.

All were agreed on the need to make Indiana a more attractive and viable place for hi-tech companies, such as micro research labs, to locate. A less moralistic approach, cleaning up the environment, less resistance to new technologies, and again, improved schooling, were all mentioned as options.

Nobody was in favor of the passage of SJR7, the so-called “Defense of Marriage Amendment,” and, in fact, called for it’s repeal should it pass. “Troubling,” and “Disturbing,” were the most common adjectives used to describe this bill. Dr. Orentlicher observed that we would be writing discrimination into our State Constitution, while Mr. Barnes commented that no amendment to the Indiana Constitution had ever been repealed.

While quite a lot of other important topics were covered, I can’t cover them all, so I’ll leave that to my fellow bloggers. I can offer my endorsement to all of these candidates. Reach them at:

Dr. David Orentlicher

Russell Brown

John Barnes