On the Highway to Hell

Let's call Mitch's plan to privatize the toll road and potentially I-69 what it is, a band-aid for his poll numbers. Once again Indiana got the fuzzy end of the sucker when the federal highway bill was passed, (even though our vaunted GOP delegation is supposed to full of Washington power players) we won't be getting any $250 million dollar bridges for 50 people, so projects that need massive amounts of funding like the Hoosier Heartland are in limbo unless the state can cough up the cash. And since Mitch's fire sale of the state government hasn't raised enough cash for these kind of projects he's looking at more pieces to sell off. While this will bring in the money upfront to start construction, there is no guarantee that over the long haul that leasing the toll roads and I-69 will be a profitable or even equitable venture for the state.

But what does Mitch care? It accomplishes the only two things he cares about, it helps with his re-election effort, and it massively reduces the size and effectiveness of the state government long term.

But you want even more proof that its a bad idea? Even the Star is against it. When the Star is against something a Republican thought of, you know it's a bad idea.

Huge Property Tax Increases in the Future

"The problem, according to the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, is that property tax rates are expected to go up between 8 and 12 percent in both 2006 and 2007, or between 16 and 24 percent."

People are struggling now, and we're looking at fairly oppressive increases to come. The problem is that far too much of Indiana's educational, local, and state services are paid for with the property tax.

While the IACT is working on a solution, the GOP led legislature seems less inclined to tackle this problem. "One of the most amazing quotes following the Indiana General Assembly’s biennial budget came from House Ways & Means Chairman Jeff Espich, the Republican from Uniondale. He was asked last spring if there would be a move toward property tax relief during the 2006 session, to which Espich replied, “I can’t imagine an election year session will lead to any change in that attitude.”

Rich McClain may have a primary challenger, now there is talk that Rep. Harrison in Hendricks county could have a challenger. Republicans in the state house are very weak right now, we can defeat these guys with good candidates.

More Property Tax Woes Ahead?

You'll find this link to the left in the news feed, but I wanted to post this at the top to highlight a potential further strain to the county's property tax income.

New Local Taxes Courtesy of Daniels

The Cass County Council passed a $25 dollar a vehicle wheel tax. The reason?

"Cuts in local road and street budgets based on state formulas forecast for 2007 would have meant major cuts in road improvement and maintenance, County Highway Superintendent Dave Strahlem said."

Mitch knows how much money it takes to run the state, and that it was going to require a tax increase to meet those needs. But he didn't want to be the one to do it, so what to do? Easy, push it off on the counties.

That's not leadership.

Gutless

19 counties (including Cass) have now petitioned the DOT to move to the central time zone when Indiana begins DST. Now how many of those counties will have their petitions approved? My guess is very few, and not including Cass.

When Mitch was campaigning he said he favored central time. Why? Because most voters favored central time. But when it came time to write the law he suddenly didn't have a preference. Why? Because the Indiana Chamber of Commerce favored Eastern. So left with the choice of angering either the voters or his sugar-daddies, Mitch took the third option which was to punt and let the DOT pick.

Folks, that's not leadership, that just gutless.

Clearly somebody never rode a school bus

"Gov. Mitch Daniels asked the question: "Do we need 292 school corporations in this state -- some serving less than 1,000 students?”

Yeah we do. Really the question should be do we need the one that serve too many students? Study after study have agreed that smaller class sizes are good for students. Smaller schools are good for students, it's a good thing when the school's administration recognizes the students. And yes, when you consolidate rural school districts you get students who have very long bus rides. Given that it's not unusual for a student to have a 45 minute to 1 hour bus ride what will it be after further consolidation? Can we really expect a 6 year old to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and be ready to learn after an hour and a half on a bus?

Once again this is another story of Mitch Daniels clearly not getting it when it comes to education.

A Lack of Political Will

Earlier in the week the Logansport city council voted down a proposal to create a city-wide wireless network. Why? God only knows, but the excuse is that the council needs more information. The council was presented with a copious amount of information, and an expert (and potential bidder if the project comes back, how convenient)even agreed that this was worth doing, and well designed.

So why did the council really vote it down? Because there are people in our community who have zero interest in the future of Logansport. Their only concern are their wallet. It doesn't matter how sensible the idea may be, it doesn't matter how many businesses, and for that matter Republicans support it, if they can't make money off of it, then they're against it.

A lack of political will? Foremost are the three Democrats on the council that voted against it. They didn't care what it would do for the community, or what it would do to the Mayor who's coat-tails they were carried into office on, they didn't care about it's impact on improving city services, the only thing that mattered to them was would they get reelected if they voted for it. They knew that those with the fat wallets and narrow minds would make their reelections very difficult, and in that moment that's all they were thinking about.

The one and only job they have is to make the Logansport of tomorrow better then the Logansport of today, but instead they thought of themselves. Remember that in the 2007 primaries, when they were supposed to be thinking about the community they were only worried about themselves. Is that who you want representing Democrats in Logansport?

Katrina Exodus Could Change Political Mix

"WASHINGTON - Population shifts caused by the exodus of hurricane victims from the Gulf Coast could have ripple effects for years to come in Louisiana political races and perhaps beyond.

How big depends on how many people stay away, which ones stay away and where they end up putting down roots.

The early thinking is that the evacuees least likely to return to their homes in Louisiana may be the poorest — and thus, Democrats for the most part. That would hurt the party in a state where Republicans already were making inroads.

If the lion's share of those leaving settle in Texas, that could work to the advantage of Democrats in President Bush's home state."

Poll: Bush approval at 39 percent

"Nearly four years after Bush's job approval soared into the 80s after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Bush was at 39 percent job approval in an AP-Ipsos poll taken this week. That's the lowest since the the poll was started in December 2003.

The public's view of the nation's direction has grown increasingly negative as well, with nearly two-thirds now saying the country is heading down the wrong track.

"As a nation, we are pretty well stretched," said Barry Allen, a political independent from Reed City, Michigan. "I approve of some of the things the president has done and disapprove of others. Overall, I disapprove."

Allen said he liked some of Bush's economic steps during his first term but has been dissatisfied with the president's economic moves in his second term, his Iraq policy and his handling of gasoline prices."

...."The number of people who think the country is on the wrong track grew from 59 percent last month to 65 percent this month. Tumbling consumer confidence after Hurricane Katrina may be contributing to that sense of pessimism."

Putting Your Safety Second

"The one place we will never scrimp is life and death areas like the State Police," Daniels said."

Liar.