On Notice: Evan Bayh

The junior senator from the state of Indiana is up for re-election this year. Here is a brief look at why Evan Bayh's period of employment belongs "On Notice".

First and foremost - - let me explain that I have voted for Sen. Bayh four times in my lifetime, twice for governor and twice for senator. Much unlike his liberal father (Birch Bayh), he always presented himself and acted in a manner that would usually define him as a fiscal conservative and a social moderate.

I remember in one State Assembly session, he cut spending fairly radically. When the Republican-led body sent him a a huge bill laced with pork, he vetoed it. After that, the Assembly promptly overrode it and forced him to cut spending in areas not covered in the bill. Most Dems at that time were more than happy to increase spending on just about anything, so having a frivolous bunch of Republicans would have normally been a gift. But Bayh was not a frivolous man, at least not at the time.

When he left the Governor's Mansion after his limited two terms, he left a surplus in the treasury. It didn't last long, the next administration was Democratic and they promptly began squandering it away the day he left. But he left it. And you must understand, this was at a time when many other states were running huge deficits like they are now.

So for the most part, he was what we all believed to be a common sense Democrat.

I also worked in middle management at a local level for the state of Indiana, when he was governor. As a Chief Executive, morale was fairly good during his tenure (at least as far as government jobs go, anyway). No leader is ever perfect and there are always disenchanted workers (even if Karl Marx were leading them). But relatively speaking he did well enough to capture some measurable loyalty and respect along the way.

But something has happened to him in the time since he has left that post. Now that he has been sent to Washington to represent the people of Indiana, he seems to have forgotten who sent him there and just who he once was.

He has evolved from the firm common sense principles of a fiscal conservative to a Washington fiscal liberal in 12 short years. This is a transformation way too radical to believe on the surface. You can't tell me that he hasn't sold his soul to the same progressive establishment that once owned his father.

Much of this transformation has taken place in a little over a year. Senator Bayh has voted for TARP, the Stimulus package, and now the healthcare bill. All of these things together are priced at well over a trillion dollars. It may be even more, because when was the last time a government program ever came in on budget?

And if that isn't enough for you, watch him as he haggles to vote for Cap and Trade. What will you bet he will hold out for added pork (for Indiana's best interest, of course), like money to throw at the bio-fuel industry that seeks to advance the use of corn based ethanol and soy-diesel (the two biggest cash crops).

How is that this man can change so drastically in a little over a year? One word, power.

When Bayh was voting more sensibly, there was a balance of power. Since the election of 2008, the power has been in hands of the Democratic party and he now feels free to assume a mandate to vote for utterly wasteful progressive legislation. In short, he feels free to come out of the closet, where many have said he has been hiding his liberal tendencies for years.

But with the election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts, he is now trying to backtrack a little bit. Whereby for a season now he has not been seen from nor heard from, he is now showing up to readjust his strategy a bit. Maybe it's because this Rasmussen poll shows he is now vulnerable in a state that has been so good to him.

But people like me are not impressed. Because the votes he has already cast (late in the last session and in the first half of this one) are enough to put this country in debt for the rest of my life and my children's lives, without borrowing another dime. He has consented for China to own this nation by throwing money, borrowed from them, at problems that cannot be fixed by mere money.

Another issue for voters to consider is from where the Senator's campaign money comes. Open Secrets shows us the largest industry that contributes to him is the same one that always seems to pop up high on Democratic lists, lawyers. I cannot imagine too many attorneys having the best interest for the citizens of any given entity. So the question becomes... what kind of bang are they getting for their buck from Evan?

Folks, I have said it many times here on PYY. It's time for these career politicians to go. We have time to study and analyze the issues before November, and we have time to look for and recruit candidates to run against the elected officials like Evan Bayh.

Mr. Bayh, you are now on notice. I will be working hard to unseat you this fall. I will be recruiting people to work against you this fall. I have worked on a few campaigns in my lifetime, both Republican and Democrat. I am relentless and will stop at nothing to prevent you from casting another vote in the U.S. Senate, after next January. My advice to you is get your resume together.

I thank you for your service to the state of Indiana and this nation, as not all of your decisions were stupid. But it is time to re-energize and rejuvenate. Time to lose the dead weight and begin to undo the damage that you and your colleagues have done to this nation.

And just so you know that we mean business, watch this video if you haven't already seen it. And if you have, watch it again:




Have a nice day.