Assets - Liabilities = Net Assets / Capital

IOW, Welch's appellate court nomination...

If you are completely stupefied at the Judicial Nominating Commission selecting Judge Welch as one of three options for the governor to appoint to the Indiana Appellate Court, then you don't understand the equation for net assets, the JNC's method for valuation, or you haven't counted some assets. 

When I saw the nominees, all I could do was chuckle... 

On and off... 

For a few hours...

I wasn't surprised at all.

• assets - liabilities = net assets
• assets > liabilities = positive net assets
• liabilities > assets = negative net assets 
• one person's liability is another's asset / the borrower is servant to the lender
• covering someone's liability owed to a third party, keeps the borrower a servant, but now to a new master   

Related to political capital

• Some people seek out opportunities for coercion, compelling a party to act against their free will whether through action or inaction. 
• For maintaining confidence of compromising information. 
• For past actions of bailing the victim out a bad situation.
• In both cases, the mark's liability becomes the fraudster's asset. 
• Some people trick others into compromising positions making them vulnerable to blackmail, commonly called a badger game.

An example of coercion might be for a judge, instead of ruling against an unjust act, provides cover for it. The party who faced no consequence for their unjust act is now vulnerable to blackmail by the judge or parties aligned with the judge--hypothetically of course.* 

What shall I say about the homes of the wicked
     filled with treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgusting practice
     of measuring out grain with dishonest measures?
How can I tolerate your merchants
     who use dishonest scales and weights?
The rich among you have become wealthy
     through extortion and violence.
Your citizens are so used to lying
     that their tongues can no longer tell the truth. Micah 6:10-12

The godly people have all disappeared;

     not one honest person is left on the earth.

They are all murderers,

     setting traps even for their own brothers.

Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!

     Officials and judges alike demand bribes.

The people with influence get what they want,

     and together they scheme to twist justice.

Even the best of them is like a brier;

     the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns. Micah 7:2-4a

If you've read this blog, maybe you believe that trial judge Welch denying (or even ruling on) a TR 53.1 praecipe is a liability beyond any asset. Or what about letting a party proceed with a lawsuit even to summary judgment over a contract without first complying with TR 9.2 in the face of constant objections? Or allowing, maybe even participating in abusive procedural games? Or engaging in material ex parte with counsel against a pro se where the lawyer coordinated proposed orders that Welch ruled on without involving the defendant? 

Or maybe related to her application to the appellate court, you might be wondering why she didn't disclose a federal lawsuit that she was a named party in. Or why the JNC didn't question her about it. And why that didn't disqualify her from consideration.

If that's your confusion buy you understand how to calculate net assets, then your valuation method is different than the JNC's, or you are missing some items. JNC members are sharp. They didn't act irrationally. Maybe short-sighted, or maybe not. Time will tell.

Items you might have failed to account for

Benefactors

• The Simon family and Simon Property Group are clearly influential in Indiana and national politics. And Welch hears more Simon lawsuits than any other judge. 
• The Simon parents filed a lawsuit in Welch's Marion County, Indiana court against a California attorney because he was representing one of their former housekeepers in Los Angeles lawsuit against them. Welch ruled that her court had jurisdiction. The appellate court disagreed.
• The far majority of Simon Property Group landlord/tenant lawsuits end up in her court. Often for out of state malls. Sometimes when no venue provision exists in the lease agreement. 
• On the conservative side of the fence, there's Mitch Daniels and ACS. 
• ACS related parties were some of My Man's biggest campaign supporters. 
• ACS also happened to be the main subcontractor of a $1.3 billion contract to reform Indiana's welfare system. Subs don't have to disclose political contributions.
• When it didn't go well, Indiana sued IBM, the lead contractor and continued on with ACS. When the first judge ruled against Indiana hinting at the conflicts, it was overturned and Welch got the nod. She allowed the case to drag on for years. Likely covering up the payola as Rodovich likes to call it. 
• Then you have her former mentors, federal Judge Jon DeGuilio of the Northern District of Indiana, and federal Magistrate Andrew Rodovich. 
• Welch clerked for both of them in Lake County after Indiana Governor Orr disemboweled the democratic machine after warring factions and Jay Given's murder. 
• DeGuilio and Rodovich were at the Lake County Prosecutor's office at the time. Given's murder is still unsolved, even though there were 400 people in the building when he was shot. 

Possible compromising information

• What if Welch's Marion County email has some evidence compromising to other parties on it? The easiest way for that to be eliminated while maintaining backup processes is for her to change jobs. The JNC might consider that material to value.
• Did Welch see anything of value in the lawsuit over Trump/ Pence/ Carrier emails that was not publicly released? Anything redacted that is of value if she is silent about it?
• What about her many other substantial cases?

There's really no reason to be surprised by this appointment, even when Holcomb picks her (which I believe is most likely), probably because I have a good handle on Welch's assets. I never thought that sending every JNC member evidence of everything I have mentioned in this blog (and plenty more that I haven't) would matter. 

Sent it anyway though, with proof of delivery. Wanted to make sure members of the JNC can't later deny knowing. 

Welch's appointment is nothing special. SOP. You better bring something of material value to the table. Integrity and judicial competence account for very little, one way or the other.

The JNC is also the Judicial Disciplinary Commission. LOL

As I suggested in my original email to JNC members, after they appoint her, Welch will likely start campaigning for a federal judgeship (DeGuilio is close to retirement eligibility). Unlike with the Indiana Appellate Court, to appeal to a democratic majority Congress and president, Welch may use any accumulated and new capital to become the worst nightmare of the Indiana GOP supermajority. She may hope to repay in-kind Orr's takedown of Indiana's former democratic stronghold. When that happens, I will make sure everyone remembers who was on the JNC, and the information on Welch that sat in front of each of them at the time. 

Relatedly, those who are investigating Welch's full body of work might consider how Welch valued an investment advisor controlling $6 billion of client assets that showed up in her court. Consider that firm violated Indiana wage laws against their employees. The person they were suing for $37,000 was the only employee without an executed compensation agreement that stipulated the wage fine. If she learned from the attorney that internal documents existed showing Valeo's intent to knowingly institute wage fines in violation of Indiana law, a bad ruling could jeopardize the future existence of that advisory firm. 

Seems like a perfect mark. 

Seems to me, $6 billion is a lot of assets. Far more than Indiana's $1.3 billion contract with IBM / ACS. 

That would cover a lot of liabilities.**

As for me, I look to the Lord for help.

     I wait confidently for God to save me,

     and my God will certainly hear me.

Do not gloat over me, my enemies!

     For though I fall, I will rise again.

Though I sit in darkness,

     the Lord will be my light.

I will be patient as the Lord punishes me,

     for I have sinned against him.

But after that, he will take up my case

     and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies.

The Lord will bring me into the light,

     and I will see his righteousness.

Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side.

     They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying,

“So where is the Lord—

     that God of yours?”

With my own eyes I will see their downfall;

     they will be trampled like mud in the streets. Micah 7:7-10

*It's important to consider that an official acting this way would almost certainly want some guarantee of benefit in advance of ruling, like pseudo escrow. Because once the ruling happens, the judge has little leverage through normal means. After the ruling the mark could simply report the judge who has farther to fall than the mark who was already at risk for their actions. That means some coordination, records, or evidence should exist.

**Hopefully you finally get it. I was never the mark--Kansas City shuffle. I am of no use to those seeking power. But I still sacrificed a lot, seeing what was happening from early on, trying to help you help yourselves... to no avail.