Who Will Admit To Hiring Tim Koponen?

OBSERVATIONS:  Many of you are asking yourselves right now 'who the heck in Tim Koponen'? Well prior to receiving about a dozen or so emails concerning Mitch Daniels' newest appointee's bizarre behavior we were asking the same thing. For those of you who many not know, Tim Koponen was recently hired as Director of Quality, Metrics and Statistics with the Indiana Department of Labor under Commissioner Lori A Torres. 

According to well-placed sources within state and local government, Mr. Koponen is creating quite a buzz in the hallways of the Government Center South as well as local political operatives with prognostications on his future plans.  Apparently Tim is trying to convince his listening audience that he was "personally recruited" by Governor Daniels to shake up the IDOL because of Mitch's dissatisfaction with Commissioner Torres' leadership over the last few months.  He also is quick to point out that he is being fast-tracked to be the Commissioner if things do not shape up by the end of year.

In an effort to obtain some background on Tim as well as provide some degree of objectivity we decided to take a peek at his facebook page.  We've cut and pasted a few of his responses - only because we think that he will delete them after this post becomes public.  Below are Tim's posts in italics.

..Timothy M Koponen

What always baffles me is the fact that Universal Healthcare actually is cheaper that crappy private half assed health care, but American don't want the good stuff... what about being world class and getting the best? Why do we hate being better?
Why Germany Has It So Good -- and Why America Is Going Down the Drain
www.alternet.org

April 15 at 9:56pm · Share.
Timothy M Koponen


What kind of bonuses would they have needed if we didn't cut those taxes on the rich?
Thank goodness s
LINDA KEENAN: How the Richest 1 Percent Keep Rewarding Themselves for Epic Failure
A signature feature of the shadow lobbyist era is not just a manipu...lation of public policy, but also an embrace of "failing upward". No matter the track record, the elite 1 percent seek more of the same. See More


LINDA KEENAN: How the Richest 1 Percent Keep Rewarding Themselves for Epic Failure..
April 10 at 9:54pm via Huffington Post · LINDA KEENAN: How the Ric.

Timothy M Koponen via James McGrath

Maybe he did....


My Take: Jesus would believe in evolution and so should you
religion.blogs.cnn.com
Editor's Note: Karl W. Giberson, Ph.D., is vice president of The BioLogos Foundation and is the author or coauthor of seven books, including The Language of Science and Faith. By Karl W. Giberson, Special to CNN Jesus once famously said, “I am the Truth...


April 10 at 5:53pm · Share

Timothy M Koponen

The best is that she's home schooling her kids LOL. Hope they're not my students

What Does Bachmann's Grasp Of History Mean For The Children?
Over the weekend, supposed Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann ...made some news after she mistook the state of New Hampshire as the location of the Battles... See More  Germans have six weeks of federally mandated vacation, free university tuition, and nursing care. Why the US pales in comparison...

What Does Bachmann's Grasp Of History Mean For The Children?..

March 15 at 12:31am via Huffington Post · What Does Bachmann's Gras.

As you can see we imagine Tim's comments have Governor Mitch Daniels' political advisers scrambling right now to clean up this guy's public rants. With the economy of someone who obviously likes to hear himself speak without consequences, he has systematically undercut the Governor's message on tax policy (we assume the Governor will endorse tax cuts for all) and Obamacare as he touts the perfection of Germany's Universal Health Care.


Of course it wouldn't be complete embarrassment for the Governor without mocking social conservatives with his offhand comments on Jesus Christ supporting evolution. Finally, as a former professor he couldn't pass up a chance to insult the Teaparty darling Congresswoman Bachmann. Not bad for two months work. Of course this add credibility to our sources' claims that Mr. Koponen possess an uncanny lack of political common sense and the rare ability to piss off people every time he opens his mouth to speak.

For those who think that we are nitpicking, please keep in mind that social media is the new 'open mike' for the next Presidential election. History shows that many a candidate have had their political aspirations crippled or even derailed when one of their employees catches a case of diarrhea of the mouth.

We are curious to know that in light of the Governor's all but announced bid for the White House, did anyone bother to check out this guy before he was hired?

We bet Mr. Earl Goode, The Governor's Chief of Staff may be having second thoughts on this pick.

From our vantage point, it seems like loose cannon Tim Koponen is more of a benefit for President Obama than the Governor. But only time will tell.


ANALYSIS:


UP:

DOWN: MDAN $150, AiHi $100, TKOP $50

Indy Star and Governor Daniels Engaged In "Stimulating" Conversation On Footwear!

OBSERVATIONS: Obviously Governor Daniels (MDAN) is making a few people nervous with his almost regular Sunday appearances on national networks.  Now it seems he has awaken the sleeping giant of MSM aka Indianapolis Star (INSTAR) - and yes we've decided to place Dennis Ryerson and Co. on he IPSE board.

We believe that this will be the beginning of a very targeted and robust effort against My Man Mitch as he continues to distinguish himself as former business executive who leads one of the few states that have kept their finances in the black without sending IOUs to creditors or mandatory furloughing of State workers.

So what about the letter? Well, we're going to ding him on your stock price, however all things being equal, if this is all they have on him then we think he's still sittin' pretty. 
We give the INSTAR a boost for finding a way to ruffle the Guv's feathers a bit which doesn't happen very often.

As for the whole "flip-flopping" accusation we think that the National Democratic Party really needs to re-think that strategy unless you want to address this, this, this and our favorite this. It appears that for every pair of flipflops others may find in the Governor's closet you'll find four pair in the President's.  Our advice to the DNC? Play the flipflop game at your own risk.

Our advice to the Governor? Watch co-signing letters in the future and smile at the fact that at least you can write your name of flip flops in black ink.

ANALYSIS:

UP: INSTAR $105

DOWN:  MDAN $170

SAME: AiHi $120