Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (right)  is pictured visiting Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer earlier this week. The photo appeared on Rokita’s Twitter feed on Wednesday. The visit was part of a tour through part of northern Indiana. Rokita also met with Republican leader and friend Jean Northenor and with Columbia City Mayor Ryan Daniel. Rokita returns to Kosciusko County Thursday for the GOP’s Lincoln Day dinner in North Webster.

By Dan Spalding
InkFreeNews

Neither of Indiana’s U.S. Senators supported a procedural vote that would have opened the door for debate on whether a 9/11-style bipartisan commission should be established to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill insurrection.

Sen. Todd Young voted no in a vote earlier this week that would have opened the door for debate on the proposal to create a 9/11-style commission on the riots that left five dead. Sen. Mike Braun was one of 11 who missed the vote.

Editor’s Note: The thoughts found in this weekly columnare an expression of opinion by the author andnot necessarily the opinion of InkFreeNews.

The Senate vote was 54-35 – short of the 60 votes needed to consider a House-passed bill that would have formed a 10-member commission evenly split between the two parties.

Braun issued a lengthy statement: “Those who breached the Capitol and committed horrific acts of violence on January 6 must be prosecuted, and all steps must be taken to prevent future security breaches and protect the men and women who protect the Capitol. To those ends, America’s most respected investigation entity – the FBI – is leading a world-class probe resulting in over 450 arrests so far and bringing a great deal of information about those who broke the law that day to light, and my Appropriations Subcommittee is digging deep into what the Capitol Police need to do their jobs safely and the Architect of the Capitol needs to prevent future attacks. I do not support the creation of a partisan commission that seeks to exploit this tragedy for political gain.”

Young was more concise: “Two Senate committees are conducting a joint bipartisan investigation of the events of January 6 with a final report coming in a matter of weeks. Senator Young believes we should let the existing process reach a conclusion.”

Ultimately, the riots will be investigated. Democrats have a few other options, all of which will likely be cast as partisan.

The vote comes after pleas by many, including the family of Capitol Hill officer Brian Sicknick, to create the commission.

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HELLO ISRAEL – Gov. Eric Holcomb’s visit this week to Israel raised a few eyebrows. His office touted the visit, saying Holcomb was the first U.S. governor to visit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following 11 days of brutal violence between Israel and Hamas, which seems like an odd thing to point out.

Afterward, the governor issued the following statement:  “I came to Israel at the request of Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue forging an even stronger Israel-Indiana bond. Building relationships with foreign leaders and businesses is vital for Indiana’s success.” 

Holcomb is finishing his final term as governor. Netanyahu, meanwhile, appears to be in his final days as the leader as others work to build a coalition that would end Netanyahu’s 12-year run.

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POPULATION SHIFT – Here’s a little trivia you can use on family and friends today while watching the Indy 500.

Even at 40 percent capacity (135,000), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway would rank as the third most populous community in Indiana.

Furthermore, those figures show that Carmel – a former suburb of Indy – now has a larger population than South Bend. And Fishers is now just 2,000 short of equaling South Bend.

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Dan Spalding is the editor at InkFreeNews.com.
He covers city government and politics and always welcomes your input.