The Employee Free Choice Act

Two columns from The Washington Post on this legislation that is coming up this week in the U.S. House of Representatives. One pro and the other from George Will. Will writes one sentence that I must comment upon:

Labor unions hope this exquisitely mistitled act, which the House of Representatives probably will pass this week, will compensate for their dwindling persuasiveness as they try to persuade workers to join.

How often does anyone think that Will criticized any piece of Republican legislation with the phrase "exquisitely mistitled"? Especially when Republican legislators mistitled statutes to an extent that can only be called Orwellian?

Will protests too much for me to be convinced that this will be bad legislation. From what little I do know about the problems with unionizing, it will be a helpful piece of legislation.

Legislative update - Major Moves money

Sorry, but this is from Masson's Blog on Sunday. I have not seen anything about the votes that were to take place on Monday but then I have not had time to dig very deeply the past few days.

Mass Transit Coming to Noblesville

From the Noblesville Ledger about IndyGo extending bus service north.

Rapid development on the north side is driving the need for a commuter bus service from Lawrence and Hamilton County to downtown Indianapolis, which IndyGo officials are hopeful will start this year. The only holdup is funding.

I have not seen similar reports from anywhere else. First, it seems that mass transit is coming regardless of what some might think. Second. the only viable form of mass transit for us in Madison County and beyond is light rail - how much longer must we wait? Third, how does this affect the congestion around I-69 and I-465 that prompted the Governor's Interstate Commerce Connector?

A bold way to improve job skills and the economy

No, nothing from our Governor on this post. Another story I picked up from the Washington Post. Building a Career Path Where There Was Just a Dead End.

Rodriguez attended a program called Per Scholas, which trains computer repair technicians in the nation's poorest congressional district, in the Bronx. Like dozens of programs around the country built on a similar model, it evolved by working closely with employers in high-growth sectors of the local economy, tailoring its training to the precise entry-level skills that were most in demand. Earlier training programs were much less targeted to the needs of labor markets.

In an ever-more-wired New York, Per Scholas places close to 80 percent of its graduates in jobs from Wall Street to tiny nonprofits. Most make about $12 an hour within a year, and many make $15 an hour in two years, according to school records. Rodriguez, who is 25, makes $12.72 an hour plus health insurance at Time Warner Cable, where she has been a broadband specialist for a year at a Queens call center.

***

...But state support now is increasing because sectoral training fits into many states' approach to economic development. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell (D), is awarding $15 million to alliances of employers, community colleges, universities and training programs to feed skilled workers into nine industries with potential for rising wages. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is considering sectoral-training proposals endorsed by his transition team. And the National Governors Association is urging all governors to embrace the approach.

Now that sounds like true boldness. Of course, those governors are Democrats. Why have we hard nothing from Mitch Daniels on this?

Washington Post article on their local transportation problems

As Governor Daniels's toll road ideas continue to raise hackles here, the Washington Post examines the problems in Virginia. The problem seems different than from here but might be worth reading for some insights. Certainly, it shows the timidity masquerading as boldness that is Mitch Daniels.

New York Review of Books - reviewing the Democrats

A long review of the books written by Democrats or about Democrats and what we need to do as a party. Well worth reading and here is the conclusion to the review:

The current moment is without precedent. Until Bush, most Americans had not seen modern conservatism fail them and the country so completely. It is, for now, only a moment. But it's the kind of moment on which realignments are built. It might turn out that Karl Rove has broken the national stalemate after all.

Washington Post and Iraq- a couple of articles worth reading

Robert Samuelson revisits an earlier column on Iraq and the costs of the war.

With hindsight, it seems almost incontestable that the Iraq war should never have been fought. It has eroded our global power, weakened our military and resulted in thousands of American and Iraqi deaths. What I most regret about my earlier column is that it seemed to bless a war, when I was mainly trying to focus attention on questions more important than money. Given the headline (I wrote it) and the fact that those questions came at the end of the column ("Is this war justifiable? . . . What would happen if we don't fight? What will happen if we do?"), the reaction was understandable. In truth, I was uncertain about the war then, just as I'm unsure of what to do now.

I usually do not join intelligent and Bush, but early one I was impressed with the Bush plan to use the Treasury to fight terrorism. Not that we have heard much of it - not quite as macho as sending US military into a meat grinder - but a column in the Post today shows its effectiveness. I still have to think its effectiveness probably has nothing to do with the President.

Authority for the new sanctions, as with so many other policy weapons, comes from the USA Patriot Act, which in Section 311 authorizes Treasury to designate foreign financial institutions that are of "primary money laundering concern." Once a foreign bank is so designated, it is effectively cut off from the U.S. financial system. It can't clear dollars; it can't have transactions with U.S. financial institutions; it can't have correspondent relationships with American banks.

Finally a guest op-ed piece that got my blood pressure up. David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey wrote about European prosecutions for our extraordinary renditions (kidnappings) on foreign soil.

An Italian court announced this month that it is moving forward with the indictment and trial of 25 CIA agents charged with kidnapping a radical Muslim cleric. These proceedings may well violate international law, but the case serves as a wake-up call to the United States. Overseas opponents of American foreign policy are increasingly turning to judicial proceedings against individual American officials as a means of reformulating or frustrating U.S. aims, and action to arrest this development is needed.

Put that way, it does seem that the Italians are just finding a way to jab us in the ribs. To make the Italians (and everyone else indicting Americans overseas) seem even more unreasonable, there is this passage:

The United States has used extraordinary renditions as part of the war on terrorism, but the continuing value of this tactic, particularly in Europe, is questionable. One of the primary European objections to the concept of a "war" on terrorism is the fear that U.S. forces will treat Europe as a battlefield. Although this fear is specious -- international law has long provided that, even in wartime, a nation cannot pursue its enemies into the territory of friendly countries without their express permission -- extraordinary rendition gets uncomfortably close to U.S. military operations on European streets. Moreover, unlike many other aspects of U.S. policy, extraordinary rendition can probably be abandoned without severely undercutting the war effort. That being the case, and given the obvious and increasing hard feelings the policy has prompted in Europe, extraordinary renditions should end.

Yet the United States must still vigorously resist the prosecution of its indicted agents. If they acted with the knowledge and consent of the Italian government (as The Post's Dana Priest reported in 2005), they are immune from criminal prosecution in that country. Although foreign nationals traveling abroad are ordinarily subject to local judicial authority, international law has long recognized an exception for government agents entering another country with its government's permission.

Then I got to this paragraph:

Because of this general rule, elaborate Status of Forces Agreements are negotiated before the troops of one state are stationed in another. These agreements usually narrow the jurisdictional immunities to be enjoyed by American troops stationed abroad, although under the NATO Status of Forces Agreements, to which Italy and the United States are both parties, America retains primary jurisdiction over offenses committed by individuals on duty -- as would have been the case here. If the Status of Forces Agreement does not apply -- as it might not, because intelligence agents are involved -- then the general rule applies. In either case, it is up to American, not Italian, authorities to determine whether any offense was committed in the capture and rendition of Nasr.

Obviously, the Italians and the Germans and the Belgians do not expect us to determine whether any offenses against their sovereignty, their laws, their citizens have been committed, and they have good reason to have low expectations of our government. The writers do not address this aspect of their case. As former Reagan and Bush I officials can they really be expected to acknowledge the damage done by the current Administration to American integrity and American interests with our own allies?

E.J Dionne's column from February 26 finds a theme in how Cheney approached Iraq with the spin on the Libby trial.

Whatever price Scooter Libby pays, the country is already paying for the divisive practices of a crowd that wanted to go to war in Iraq in the very worst way -- and did exactly that. As a result, we confront the mess in Baghdad and the continued threat of terrorism as an angry, polarized nation.

Amen.

Links for Indiana blogs

Liberal Indiana continues its changes.

Jim Shella reports that Jill Long may enter the Governor's race. (Which I find a very good idea. She's got name recognition. I do not remember her doing such a bad job in Congress. However, it seems to me ages since she was holding office.)

I was not aware of Blue Indiana.net but I am impressed. The blog is a community blog. That is, you register and can start adding your comments. Instead of lone voices howling in the cornfields of Indiana, we can be a chorus.

Also, there is Fort Wayne Observed. I like Fort Wayne. Used to go up there fairly often in the late 90's but not so much lately. They have a great children's zoo. I feel a little remiss about not mentioning any Fort Wayne blogs. Especially one that promotes a book about Fort Wayne baseball. Or any Indiana baseball. (Yes, I am very much ready to get rid of this snow and see some green and baseball means green grass to me....)

Australia's The Age on Iraq

I posted earlier on The Times of London reporting on Iraq. Now another ally seems less than enthused about Iraq and our leadership there.

However, there is one important similarity between Britain and Australia that is worth keeping in mind: the manner in which the shape of both countries' respective alliance relationships with the US limits policy flexibility.

There is little doubt that Blair's ability to manoeuvre on Iraq has been restricted by the risk of alienating Washington. Like Howard, Blair's resolute support for Bush's policy in Iraq has raised expectations within the White House to such a level that any hint of a retreat risks being interpreted as an act of personal disloyalty.

Against this background, the decision to withdraw 1,600 out of a total troop commitment of more than 7,000 smacks of political compromise: an attempt to assuage concerns at home without upsetting Washington.

It is in this sense that both Blair and Howard are limited by the manner in which they have reshaped their countries' relationships with Washington by conflating loyalty to George Bush as a friend with loyalty to the US as an ally. This suggests that any major changes in the Iraq policies of Britain and Australia are unlikely until Blair, Howard or Bush leave office.

Privatizing the Indiana Lottery

I hate using privatizing. That sounds like the lottery will be open to all to invest in and generally be subject to the free market. What this means is transferring a government monopoly to a private monopoly.

What is wrong with a private monopoly? Generally, I am pretty tepid about the lottery but I do recognize that there is a strong morals argument against the lottery. The public may at some time decide that the moral argument trumps the argument that it means fewer taxes. Being in public hands allows that change. I suspect the Governor's lottery plan will sharpen any moral argument against the lottery. For how what will a private entity want? More profits. How will the private entity get more profits? Expand gambling. From today's Indianapolis Star, the General Assembly is trying to limit that expansion already:

The bill includes limitations on how a company could accomplish that. For instance, a contractor would be prohibited from launching Keno, video lottery terminals or types of games that do not already exist.

It also includes safeguards such as requirements for regular audits, a security program and minimum payouts, though the amount of those payouts is not specified in the bill.

The company, however, still would have leeway to make many decisions about how it operates. Jack Crawford, who led the Hoosier Lottery in 1989, said that could affect areas such as marketing.

"I think the Hoosier Lottery has been very careful to not push the envelope and not use false advertising or exaggerated advertising about the possibility of winning," said Crawford, now an Indianapolis defense attorney.

A private company might not have the same scruples, he said.

Thanks to Taking Down Words for the link to the article. I had not gotten around to the Indianapolis Star today. TDW has been doing a great job of keeping an eye on the Governor's lottery scheme. I would also point out this editorial from The Age in Australia:

For the most part, whether Tweedledum or Tweedledee gets the lottery licence begs the real question of why Victoria needs a private franchisee to run the lottery. The issue is not simply one of efficiency. It is primarily a question of power. Depending on the length of the franchise, Tattersall's has tens of millions to lose and its Greek competitor, Intralot, has tens of millions to gain if Intralot gets the lottery franchise.

And what of efficiency? What we mean here is the skill of the franchisee in marketing - which means selling more, rather than less, lottery tickets. Is welfare increased if Intralot can persuade the average Victorian to buy five scratch tickets a week instead of two?

And why do we have scratch tickets? As I understand it, it is to provide instant gratification, which comes close to replicating the experience of playing the pokies - the heroin of gambling. At least the purchase of a lottery ticket can induce pleasant dreams for the week or so between buying the ticket and the draw.

Why, before the beauty contest between Tattersall's and Intralot was set in train by the Government, didn't the Government inquire into the real choice? Instead of issuing a new lottery franchise, put lotteries back in public ownership run by the state, as occurs in WA and many other places for the obvious reason that it's cheaper and avoids corruption.

Between Australia and Indiana, the only difference seems to be that Australia's province of Australia already has a private franchise for its lottery. The problems we see possible in Indiana are actually seen in Australia.

Economic Development Ideas

Maybe the difference comes from Muncie having different assets from Anderson. Turning the Roberts Hotel (that's downtown Muncie for those who do not know any better) into a water park sounds crazy but at least somebody has an idea.

Professor Barkey finds that college education improves one's economic standing and economic diversity is not so bad. I do not find the first point exactly Big News. I cannot say I agree with the other conclusion. Seems the best means to improving one's economic well-being is get a college education and then get a salaried position paid for by the government.

Recycle Force over in Richmond combines recycling with giving convicts employment.

Muncie Democrats Doing Their Usual and Free for All in Kokomo

Today's Star-Press editorial writes a pretty fair if simple history of the Delaware Democratic party infighting and divisions. I have seen it in operation, saw a good friend burned by the split twenty years ago, and think we in Madison County should find this a cautionary tale. (Although I do think that the minor split that helped Bob Rock lost the mayoral race four years ago seems healed as the cause of the breach is definitely MIA.) On the other hand, Muncie would not be Muncie without these fights.

Meanwhile, the Kokomo City Council three open seats and seven Democrats running for them (and the same number of Republicans). The article here has more details on the candidates.

Toronto Star on Pakistan and the Taliban and on Iran

Afghanistan here:

Those who invaded Iraq claiming it had weapons of mass destruction and have been blaming Iran and Syria for the murderous mess in Iraq, are also the same people now blaming Pakistan for the mess in Afghanistan.

They say Pakistan is aiding and abetting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Maybe it is. But U.S. President George W. Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have offered little or no proof.

The American media are running a parallel campaign, hurling a more serious allegation, that the Pakistan army is extending logistical help to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Most such stories are based on unnamed sources.

The New York Times, which in the pre-Iraq war days carried phony WMD stories, is back practising the same sort of discredited journalism.

In a Washington-datelined story last week on ostensible Al Qaeda camps in North Waziristan, I counted 20 attributions to unnamed "American officials," "intelligence officials and terrorism experts," "American analysts," "counterterrorism officials," etc.

Iran here:

The Bush administration's approach – surrender and then we can negotiate – will not move the Iranians or gather needed allies. If the U.S. could deal with the far greater threat of the Soviet Union, surely it can talk to Iran.

The Toronto Star notes that this originally appeared in the Financial Times.

Cheney Shoots off Mouth, Murtha Shot Himself in the Foot

The Washington Post has an article here. I like what I understand to be Murtha's plan. I do think that Bush would have rushed a bunch of soldiers into Iraq without enough training or enough equipment just to how powerful he is. After all, he did it before. However, Murtha shot his mouth off and that diverted attention from the substance of the legislation.

Cheney Mentally Ill or Just Stupid?

From the AP:

Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday renewed Washington's warning to Iran that "all options" are on the table if the country continues to defy U.N.-led efforts to end Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

At a joint news conference with Prime Minister John Howard during a visit to Australia, Cheney also said Washington was "comfortable" with Britain's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq and that it was up to Australia to decide if it would do the same.

From the Washington Post regarding the Cheney-Pelosi spat and al-Qaeda in Iraq:

The remarks also reflected Cheney's frequent suggestion that al-Qaeda is the United States' principal adversary in Iraq, a stance disputed by many experts inside and outside the government. A recent National Intelligence Estimate concluded that factors in Iraqi violence include "extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, al-Qa'ida and Sunni insurgent attacks on Coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence."

These remarks from the London Times about Tony Blair make some interesting comparisons with our warrior Vice President:

Only the fantasy world inhabited by Blair and Des Browne, his defence secretary, can now claim the four-year British occupation of Basra a success. A country that can be patrolled only by air or in armoured columns is not controlled, let alone governed. Blair promised last week “to publish a plan to develop the port of Basra later this year”. This is outrageous. Where was that plan before the invasion? The one happy note is that when the British leave the Shi’ite south, it should at least be spared the fury of the Shi’ite/Sunni conflict in the north. Mere gang warfare will ensue.

If Basra was uncontrolled and ungoverned, what does this say about Baghdad? Memory lapses seem to abound on both sides o the Atlantic (I listened to Olbermann's Countdown on Friday and a clip from Tony Snow had me laughing out loud. Since when did our President ever think the UN was an institution to follow? Gee, was John Bolton just putting us on?).

Last week’s decision has given new impetus to the Iraq blame game. Pundits vie for comparisons with the Dardanelles, Crete, Khartoum or Afghanistan. Such efforts demonstrate only that in matters of war politicians remember nothing and learn nothing. What is extraordinary is to watch the same mistakes made in Iraq — basically waiting on policy dictated from Washington — being repeated in the Helmand desert. Browne and his defence ministry profess confidence in their press releases while commanders scream for reinforcements. To expect a British cabinet to remember Crete or the Dardanelles may be asking a lot, but they seem unable to recall the day before yesterday.

As with the President, Mr. Cheney forgets Afghanistan. Or maybe he came to believe his own mendacity that Iraq had something to do with 9/11? The English have not forgotten Afghanistan and the Taliban. The AP article above had Australia John Howard saying something about the US being forced out of Iraq as encouraging Iran. Mr. Howard seems to forget that Afghanistan is on the other side of Iran from Iraq. Getting forced out of there would be a blow to us that I think Iran would find more bothersome and also encouraging. Bothersome because the Iranians hate the Taliban and encouraging because the Afghan situation is more of conventional military situation than Iraq. Failing in Iraq belongs to the civil/political side and not the military. Perhaps here lies the explanation for the Vice President's apparent delusion about Iraq - for a political failure means the fault lies with the Executive Branch and its eager chickenhawks. Emphasizing the military role obscures the true failure in Iraq.

Something more to think about from the London Times:

At first the Taliban were so soundly routed that they could do little. But gradually, encouraged by the West’s queasy commitment, they have used their bases in Pakistan to regroup. They are now a serious threat to western forces. British troops have seen tougher fighting in Afghanistan than in Iraq and more of our soldiers have died there. It is a bloody and dangerous struggle against a ruthless enemy, which is no surprise to anyone who knows a bit about British and Russian imperial history.

Lastly, this from John Nichols at The Nation, which focus on the importance of Cheney and our foreign policy:

Were Cheney a run-of-the-mill vice president, his inability to identify the line between fact and fantasy – or is it: truth and fiction – would be the stuff of comedy sketches. But, of course, Cheney is no ordinary second in command. Indeed, when it comes to foreign policy, he has for six years now been the real "decider." Only the most delusional observer of Washington fails to recognize that the Bush White House does what it does "because," as former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill explained, "this is the way that Dick likes it."

So as the vice president, with his attacks on Pelosi, launches a new front in his war on reality, isn't it time to talk ask whether American can survive another two years of his misrule. Or, to be more precise: Hasn't he earned the sanction proposed by the bumper stickers that read: "Impeach Cheney First"?

If it were not that Congress has enough on its hands and other means for limiting Cheney's power, I would heartily agree with impeaching this idiot.

Eco-Friendly Business Ideas

Playing a bit of catch up on Trifles.

The Chicago Tribune has an article today on a eco-friendly shopping mall here.

Waste management ought to be a bit more in the forefront of our brains here in Anderson. Considering the Mallard Lake War and all that. Here is a story from the London Times today about a company using a different process for turning waste into dollar (well, pounds). I guess it appeals to me for its two-birds-one-stone approach:

Mr Riddle says that New Earth’s approach is a double business model. It not only takes waste off councils’ hands under contract, it sells the end products – sometimes back to the councils.

The company sells topsoil to golf courses, recycled plastic for use in tarmac and compost for use on non-food crops such as elephant grass and oil seed rape grown for biofuel. The compost cannot be used on food crops because of the risk of foot and mouth disease from meat waste.

Mr Riddle says he envisages selling the biodeisel back to the councils as they will want to be able to say that their rubbish lorries are fuelled by the waste they are carrying.

Now, if we had an outfit like that here what would be the need for a landfill at Mallard Lake?

Update and some odds and sods

Work intruded again. A lot happening and a lot on my mind but some of that will have to take a backseat to getting the rent money.

Here is a piece in the Toronto Star that caught my eye on proportional voting. This was considered a bit (not probably this exact formulation) for Indiana back in the 1800's. I think proportional voting does have some points in its favor. I think that it may lower the desire to gerrymander districts and I think it might have some effects on campaign spending that avoids arguments about free speech.

Here is an article from the Noblesville Ledger about the rise of small shops in their area. Well, worth thinking about why this happens in Hamilton County but not in Madison County.

Another critique of Obama's website here. It articulates better the points I made here.

Back to the farm - more alternative agicultural policies

It has been awhile since I wrote anything on farming. Between snow and trying to get the business blogs up and just trying to get work done, I guess the pickings have been slim. Anyway, here is a story from the New York Times reprinted in the International Times Herald. I will ask again: why was nothing like this in Indiana's agricultural program?

Bill O'Reilly

I have no use for the guy. He contributes nothing but bile to any situation. From what I can tell he uses his position to suck off the fears and anxieties of his viewers for the sole purpose of self-aggrandizement and increasing his revenue. If you believe he is an exemplar of journalistic integrity, do not read this.

Bush cuts VA

Something I lucked into at the Elder Law Prof Blog:

Hospital and Medical Care for Veterans: The President proposes to increase funding for these programs by nearly $1.4 billion (or 4 percent) in 2008. But the increase would only be temporary. The President proposes to cut the programs in this subfunction in each subsequent year, from 2009 through 2012; in each of those years, the programs would be funded at levels below the amount provided for 2007, adjusted for inflation. In 2012, the cut would be $2.7 billion, or 7 percent.

That means when the VA will start seeing the men and women maimed and injured during Mr. Bush little jaunt into Iraq, the VA budget will be in decline. Yes, Mr. Bush do support your troops and give the top 1% their tax cuts.

Roads and economic development and Elwood

I have not had much time to look at the papers today. Well, I looked at Muncie and I looked the Herald-Bulletin. Still got a lot of stories about snow. Then I see this article about how the ten year DOT plan does not include expanding 37 to four lanes into Elwood. Yeah, give Mitch points for having vision and wanting to spread the economic development into the smaller cities and towns of Indiana.

Now would the story be the same if Mitch could find a way to give a slice of the action to someone like Bechtel or Halliburton?

For those of you who think the UAW killed Anderson

From Professor Bainbridge.com. At worst, the case is not proven.

Professor Bainbridge on GOP branding and me on Nixon

Conservative economic professor posts about the GOP branding going down the tubes. I think this fits with what I wrote here - Democrats must make an effort to have a strong brand.

Also, from Professor Bainbridge I got a link this debate between two conservatives on what went wrong for conservatives under Bush. I think they both miss the point that much of what concerns the "conservatives" does not find a warm cozy home in the hearts and minds of mainstream America. That they cannot understand this is understandable. First, because they have come to believe their own messianic propaganda - that they are anointed from on high to show us belonging to the great unwashed masses the errors of our ways. Secondly, the got suckered by their own redefining of conservative. I would consider myself a financial conservative - as would most Indiana Democrats - waste not, want not. I certainly do not count tax cuts during wartime as financial reasonable. However, where common sense and reasonableness were once the hallmarks of a conservative, today's conservatives are reactionaries hiding as conservatives. Reasonableness and commonsense lost to a rabid ideology to rebuild the world in an image conducive to their theories.

Reading over the article, I thought there is just too much bullshit here too separate, too much nonsense to worry over, but then I came to this paragraph:

Things at home were little better. For conservatives, the 1970s stand as the nadir of American social history-the “decade of nightmares,” in Philip Jenkins’ phrase. This was the era that installed the media culture of suspicion, surrendered the nation’s cities to crime zones, suffered double-digit inflation, nationalized the sexual revolution, and gave us Roe v. Wade. Direct cause and effect for such things are always difficult to decide, but, in one way after another, we were demoralized for a decade after America’s defeat in Vietnam.

The writer glosses over the one great glaring episode that demoralized America during the 1970's. He follows other Republicans in this. Bush I talking about the Vietnam malaise as we liberated Kuwait. Even Ronald Reagan had to find some other fault for the ugly 1970's. None ever want to mention Richard Nixon's resignation as grounds for demoralizing the country. Nixon who ran as the law and order candidate, Nixon who talked about honorable withdrawals, Nixon who talked about the silent majority of hard, working middle class Americans, Nixon who was shown to be a crook and put lies to all of his sanctimonious bs. he crushed the hopes of those who believed him and shocked some who had no use for him. Until these people recognize the harm Nixon did to all of us, I will find their dissertations into what went wrong with America intellectually dishonest regardless of their academic credentials.

Alltolled has an updated calendar - toll road events

Here is the calendar. Anyone interested in the Interstate Commerce Connector should check out this site. I do have it listed in my links.

Obama's website and some ideas for Indiana Democrats

For anyone thinking about political websites, I suggest reading this post at Rob Hyndman's blog. There are some good points about Obama's website.

The real issue, to my mind, is whether the political process is compatible with the core values of social media. Mathew notes this as well, with some doubt that campaigns are up to it. This is of course the conversation that Stowe had recently about PR, and it’s a very good point that can be equally made about most of our social institutions: authenticity is precisely what many try to avoid, and it’s hard to resist the conclusion that the rush to social media we’ve seen so far in this campaign is anything other than a cynical attempt to grab some headlines and get some “I’m with it” branding. I frankly doubt that’s true - the online success of the last Dean campaign and of netroots - except perhaps when it came to crunch time in Lieberman v. Lamont (entirely understandable, as a commenter briskly informed me some time ago) - tells us something about what the people want. And if enough people want it ….

I think there are some lessons for us here in Indiana. We won Madison County with a straight ticket vote of about 10,000. That's impressive but should also should be worrisome. How many of those votes were UAW retirees? How much longer can we rely on those retirees? Life expectancy says not much longer. So we need to recruit more people to the Democratic Party and I think Obama's site shows how this can be done.

Take a good look at the right hand sidebar of Obama's site. Take a look at the blog tab. These are the social networking tools mentioned above. With these the site creates a dialog between candidate and public. I see now reason these cannot apply to other candidates' sites and to party sites. Let me point out some benefits I see in this kind of dialog:

1. We get an opportunity to counter the effect of the Limbaughs and the Coulters and the Fox News types have had on framing the debate by speaking directly to the public. How well have we explained what the Democratic Party stands for since Reagan? As much as I admire Bill Clinton as a politician, he did little to remove the cloud created over us in 1980. Luckily, the Republicans only had Newt Gringrich and the moronic idea of impeachment.
   
2. The party gets an opportunity to hear from the public. I noticed at the last county party meeting the general age of those who are leading the party is older than myself. Not a problem in and of itself but a dialog with the public may keep them from fighting old fights with old tools. Beginning with Reagan the Republicans were able to sell themselves as the party of innovation, of bright ideas, of freshness. We know it was a con and the pigeons have come home to roost, but all that misses the point that the public bought the story. Democratic leadership was caught in the battles of yesteryear - the McGovernites over the war, the blue collar Dems over the Sixties - while people moved on.
   
3. In an age when campaigning has almost swamped the politicians' duties to govern, these tools provide a low cost means to keep our ideas and ideals out in front of the public. We get feedback from the public and use to adapt those ideas and ideals to current concerns.

Of course, this means fighting. No more shuffling and apologizing for our views. We can admit mistakes in policy but did we have to act so shamefaced about our errors? We cannot rely upon the people to recognize the reasonableness of our ideas if we do not fight for them. We cannot fight someone like Anne Coulter with sweet reasonableness nor can we fight her head on. Reasonableness has nothing to do with people like Coulter. Fighting her head on is to let her choose to the battleground. We can point out how silly she is, though. We have muddled through but with what result? Declining real wages, declining respect in the world, a war in Iraq, an Indiana governor who missed a career as an auctioneer.

Something slightly different

But politics all the same. I mention in a post below that Kokomo has a new mayoral candidate. here is his website. Then I found this article on The Thicket.

The mayoral candidate site is great but I cannot tell if the guy is a Democrat or not. Maybe I overlooked a reference on a page. Our mayoral candidates should seriously think about a site like this.

The other thing may be a bit more esoteric unless you know something about wikis. I know a little and think it is a great idea and one that ought to have a wider use. On the other hand, the City website does not have the city ordinances or archive the city council meetings.

Oh, one thing I did learn at last Friday's county meeting is that we have a county Democratic party web page here. Pretty cool site and congratulations for whoever designed it. When can we expect a blog?

Last Friday's county Democrat meeting

Ok, I took way to long to report on this but it was a pitch-in dinner. The candidates all were given a chance to give a short speech. I need to take a notebook with me. I really cannot remember people's names.

What I really want to report is this: unity. There is a unified purpose to the county party to move forward. The Anderson mayoral candidates and the Anderson City Council candidates are united in removing Smith as mayor. Having eyeballed both mayoral candidates, I think it is safe to say that there will be no infighting amongst them.

I am going to suggest here that the Anderson mayoral race is the most important race for Democrats in Indiana. The big cities are pretty much a cinch (does anyone seriously think we can lose Indianapolis or Evansville? Ok, maybe if Peterson is found with a goat in a Chicago Bears uniform). Muncie is an open race this year. Kokomo is the only of the manufacturing cities that is even prospering right now, so that one might be a close one to call as being more important than Anderson (besides things have been a bit weird up there). I have no idea what is going on in Terre Haute or Columbus. So with all these caveats and qualifications, I say Anderson will be the test for us this year.

It will be a test because Smith has come to adopt Daniels' ICC and he is an incumbent Republican mayor. It will be a test of the Governor's appeal as well as Smith's economic development. The city employees have gripes, some known and some only hinted at, but the fight for those outside of city employment will be economic development. That is, jobs.

It will not be an easy test, either. Kevin Smith can scrap. We need to develop cogent ideas, a vision (yes, I know I wrote that I would write more on this and I will) for the city that is a Democratic vision. Then we need to support whoever wins the primary. Full tilt support.

Another Democrat running for mayor of Kokomo?

Got this from the Muncie Free Press today. At least, I think he is a Democrat.

Guest editorial from NY Times - federalism

The NY Times does not keep articles online for very long before charging for them. I found the following very interesting, if a bit flawed. I do not know if it is proper to reprint the whole thing but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

February 10, 2007
Op-Ed Contributor
California Split
By GAR ALPEROVITZ

Washington

SOMETHING interesting is happening in California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to have grasped the essential truth that no nation — not even the United States — can be managed successfully from the center once it reaches a certain scale. Moreover, the bold proposals that Mr. Schwarzenegger is now making for everything from universal health care to global warming point to the kind of decentralization of power which, once started, could easily shake up America’s fundamental political structure.

Governor Schwarzenegger is quite clear that California is not simply another state. “We are the modern equivalent of the ancient city-states of Athens and Sparta,” he recently declared. “We have the economic strength, we have the population and the technological force of a nation-state.” In his inaugural address, Mr. Schwarzenegger proclaimed, “We are a good and global commonwealth.”

Political rhetoric? Maybe. But California’s governor has also put his finger on a little discussed flaw in America’s constitutional formula. The United States is almost certainly too big to be a meaningful democracy. What does “participatory democracy” mean in a continent? Sooner or later, a profound, probably regional, decentralization of the federal system may be all but inevitable.

A recent study by the economists Alberto Alesina of Harvard and Enrico Spolaore of Tufts demonstrates that the bigger the nation, the harder it becomes for the government to meet the needs of its dispersed population. Regions that don’t feel well served by the government’s distribution of goods and services then have an incentive to take independent action, the economists note.

Scale also determines who has privileged access to the country’s news media and who can shape its political discourse. In very large nations, television and other forms of political communication are extremely costly. President Bush alone spent $345 million in his 2004 election campaign. This gives added leverage to elites, who have better corporate connections and greater resources than non-elites. The priorities of those elites often differ from state and regional priorities.

James Madison, the architect of the United States Constitution, understood these problems all too well. Madison is usually viewed as favoring constructing the nation on a large scale. What he urged, in fact, was that a nation of reasonable size had advantages over a very small one. But writing to Jefferson at a time when the population of the United States was a mere four million, Madison expressed concern that if the nation grew too big, elites at the center would divide and conquer a widely dispersed population, producing “tyranny.”

Few Americans realize just how huge this nation is. Germany could fit within the borders of Montana. France is smaller than Texas. Leaving aside three nations with large, unpopulated land masses (Russia, Canada and Australia), the United States is geographically larger than all the other advanced industrial countries taken together. Critically, the American population, now roughly 300 million, is projected to reach more than 400 million by the middle of this century. A high Census Bureau estimate suggests it could reach 1.2 billion by 2100.

If the scale of a country renders it unmanageable, there are two possible responses. One is a breakup of the nation; the other is a radical decentralization of power. More than half of the world’s 200 nations formed as breakaways after 1946. These days, many nations — including Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Italy and Spain, just to name a few — are devolving power to regions in various ways.

Decades before President Bush decided to teach Iraq a lesson, George F. Kennan worried that what he called our “monster country” would, through the “hubris of inordinate size,” inevitably become a menace, intervening all too often in other nations’ affairs: “There is a real question as to whether ‘bigness’ in a body politic is not an evil in itself, quite aside from the policies pursued in its name.”

Kennan proposed that devolution, “while retaining certain of the rudiments of a federal government,” might yield a “dozen constituent republics, absorbing not only the powers of the existing states but a considerable part of those of the present federal establishment.”

Regional devolution would most likely be initiated by a very large state with a distinct sense of itself and aspirations greater than Washington can handle. The obvious candidate is California, a state that has the eighth-largest economy in the world.

If such a state decided to get serious about determining its own fate, other states would have little choice but to act, too. One response might be for an area like New England, which already has many regional interstate arrangements, to follow California’s initiative — as it already has on some environmental measures. And if one or two large regions began to take action, other state groupings in the Northwest, Southwest and elsewhere would be likely to follow.

A new wave of regional devolution could also build on the more than 200 compacts that now allow groups of states to cooperate on environmental, economic, transportation and other problems. Most likely, regional empowerment would be popular: when the Appalachian Regional Commission was established in 1965, senators from across the country rushed to demand commissions to help the economies and constituencies of their regions, too.

Governor Schwarzenegger may not have thought through the implications of continuing to assert forcefully his “nation-state” ambitions. But he appears to have an expansive sense of the possibilities: this is the governor, after all, who brought Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain to the Port of Long Beach last year to sign an accord between California and Britain on global warming. And he may be closer to the mark than he knows with his dream that “California, the nation-state, the harmonious state, the prosperous state, the cutting-edge state, becomes a model, not just for the 21st-century American society, but for the larger world.”

Gar Alperovitz, a professor of political economy at the University of Maryland, College Park, is the author of “America Beyond Capitalism.”

Gore Vidal proposed something similar in one of his essays. Since I no longer have that collection of Vidal's essays, all I can do is paraphrase. The idea was to divide the country into cantons like Switzerland. While, the idea has some appeal. The idea of merging Hoosiers into Buckeyes, I find distasteful. True, our interests might run the same but have you ever seen how Ohio drivers drive?

Seriously, federalism ought to allow enough room for what the writer wants. The sticking point remains state rights. State rights have been tangled up for too long with our national racism. Before the Civil War, it was meant to preserve slavery in the South. From Reconstruction till 1965, the idea protected Jim Crow. State rights appeals to those fear a national government. As such, it has been used to attack the Democrats (who beginning with FDR usurped the Republicans as the national party). What we have seen since 1994 are the Republicans are selective about what they see as belonging to state's rights. That is any rights that do not fit the "conservative" theory are to be nationalized. State Bills of Rights create a wall between church and state? Too bad, we will set up a national standard requiring prayer in schools. So and so forth.

Let us also recognize the sheer humbuggery of our state politicians. Too often they found pushing off matters onto the federal government saved state legislators from making hard choices about taxes and governmental services.

The role the states play in our federal system really has not been addressed since 1876 and certainly not since 1965. The machinery does need examined critically but I doubt we need to follow the prescription laid out in the New York Times. However, all machinery needs a tune up and realignment.

Follow up on BSU porn flick, Borg-Warner, Muncie editorials

I wrote about the Ball State porn fiasco here. The Star Press editorialized about the incident here. Quite a sensible editorial. Here is what I think is the meat of the editorial:

No apologies need be made, nor any further action taken. That one moviemaker in a profession to which many of Ball State's undergraduate programs educate future leaders got more than the university bargained for in an isolated incident is no cause for alarm.

Of more concern is that Gregory hopes to make Muncie a Midwestern center for producing "adult entertainment," something that economic development officials probably won't quickly sign on to.

Gregory said he is proud to be affiliated with his tawdry trade, though we note that five students recruited for bit parts in the film (nothing revealing) requested their names not be released. They must not be so proud, and perhaps they learned in their years at Ball State how degrading pornography can be to women

Today had this letter about the future of Muncie and I think it is so very applicable to us here in Anderson (and Marion and places in between):

WHEN I WATCHED Armed & Famous on CBS, I noticed one major problem. Many of our citizens are apparently drug users, specifically, crack-cocaine addicts. And that concerns me. It concerns me because many of these addicts are poor. Now, we could blame it on their lifestyle, and much of that is true, they do choose to use that drug every day. However, I believe it stems from a much larger problem.

Muncie has lost her pride. People in this town have little to be happy about. Yes, we have two Wal-Marts and a fabulous mall, and you can pig out at a large variety of restaurants, but that is not enough. Without good-paying jobs, it will eventually affect our retailers and restaurants. Many youths in high school know that Muncie has nothing to offer. From about their freshman year on, they decide on which college they can attend to get as far away as they can from Muncie. And they never return. Pride in a town can make a difference.

This kind of pride has to be seen in our leaders and it cannot be false because people who live without hope can see through false pride. So, here is a letter to the future mayor of Muncie. You are going to have to become a great sales person. You need to take this position because you believe in Muncie, you believe in the potential of her citizens and you believe that Muncie can be much better than what we see today. You are going to have to forget about what Muncie use to be, and start focusing on what Muncie can be. You need to be able to rally us.

MORE THAN THAT, you better plan on selling Muncie to business tycoons and leaders who are looking for real estate and about 5,000 new employees. Not some little $10 an hour job, but jobs that pay real life income.

All that does apply to Anderson. What does not have an easy application for Anderson is this: Muncie's manufacturing industry declines as jobs in live sciences continue to grow.

A survey of life science jobs throughout the country shows that Muncie ranked fourth in the nation among small cities for research, testing and laboratory employment.

The rankings -- which showed Indianapolis was ninth in the nation among large cities for biosciences employment -- is the kind of rating that local officials enjoy, because it portrays a community as technologically progressive.

But the jobs are also high-paying and secure because they are not dependent on potentially volatile industries like automaking.

Advance Indiana on gay marriage

I thought I would check out Advance Indiana after reading TDW today. Gary Welch is an openly gay Republican attorney. He can also write. He has several posts on the gay marriage and they are well worth reading.

It is inescapable that the whole proposal approaches idiocy. For me, it brings back memories of Stephenson and the Klan. Now that did wonders for the reputation of our State, didn't it? Republicans might want to consider how much damage was done to their party by their association with Stephenson.

For those of you with no idea of who D.C. Stephenson was, see this Wikipedia article.

Muncie Free Press and Downtown newsletter

I mentioned this in a previous post and then could not find the link. The Muncie Free Press prints the Muncie Downtown Newsletter. I know of nothing like this for Anderson. Andersonians, take a look at this and see how Muncie's downtown hangs together. This is the web site for the Muncie Downtown. Thirty miles to the east, there are much better ideas of what we can do with our downtown than anything Fortune Management ever thought of.

Some old and some new

I have been haring off doing this and that, trying to make a living, braving the blizzard, and a few other things called a life that I overlooked a few things:

from last month's Star about the toll road to nowhere:

Many of those attending said cutting the county in half through farms, school districts, and small communities is not worth the economic benefits the project is supposed to generate. Others said the toll road may not even solve traffic woes.

“A toll road may, in fact, make things worse,” said Gary Moody. “A foreign consortium running that road would want more congestion because it would be good for business.”

Part of the proposed plan would give a private company operating the toll road a non-competition clause preventing the state from building an alternate route parallel to the toll road until the end of a possible 75-year lease.

A resident of Franklin, Moody, 50, also referred to the Central Indiana Suburban Transportation and Mobility Study conducted by the state in 2005. The study indicated the outer belt would be located on the edge of where the Indianapolis metropolitan area might be in another 30 years. Until then, few local travelers would likely use the beltway with one exception – those currently traveling between Anderson and Indianapolis on I-69 could instead take the outer belt to I-70 East, according to the report.

“We spent $850,000 on that study,” said Bobbie Tranter, 47, of Needham Township. “They’re saying that it did not show them what they need to know, or is it that it did not show them what they wanted it to say? In 20 years if this is needed, let’s go for it and do it and take my land. But until then let’s deal with the problems we need to deal with today.”

Several constituents questioned the route of the proposed saying it should be built near cities like Kokomo and Anderson where residents have faced job losses due to shut-downs of factories in automotive industries.

Others attending the meeting asked why the toll road is not being built in Hamilton County where traffic congestion, especially on I-69 near Fishers and Noblesville, is causing headaches for commuters traveling between the northern bedroom communities and Indianapolis.

Farmers in the audience are also concerned they will not be able to pass their land on to children and grandchildren, or that they will not be paid a fair price by the state for land that is now commanding about $25,000 an acre by developers. Some lament not only the potential loss of farms but also history of the area.

“Are we going to be giving the governor a blank check,” asked Sara Earles, 62, of Nineveh Township. “We have old cemeteries and history that will be wiped out if this goes through.”

Here is a link to get a look at the Senate Bill for the ICC. It went to the House on the 12th. Not sure if the General Assembly is shut down due to the snow or not. Masson's Blog has a report on the Senate vote. Looks like the vote was not along party lines.

From this post on today's TDW, I get the idea that the Governor and the President both want to push toll roads.

The Indianapolis Star had this rather lackluster report of Daniels' reception in Washington, DC.

Kenn Gividen has a post here with a different view on the subject. I disagree heartily and completely but it is a well written Libertarian argument.

Am I the only one who wonders about who will get the benefit from these privatization deals? Is Mighty Mitch going to have a cozy job waiting for him after he gets booted out of office? One of TDW's posters said he wanted a conservative because Mitch was a Liberal. Mitch is not a Liberal. Mitch is a short-sighted idiot who is a toady for Big Business instead of being our governor. Though, I do agree with that poster that if we pay taxes, we ought not pay user fees. That combination does nothing but infuriate Hoosiers.

Taking Down Words on Gay Marriage Ban

Go now to TDW and read her post on marriage and the gay marriage ban. Having been married for about a year and half after a long time of bachelorhood, I got to say what she wrote about marriage was magnificently inspiring. My wife has put up with some boneheaded stupidity out of me and I have learned to live with her. Neither was easy.

She also makes good points about the constitutional ban on gay marriage - unneeded, enshrines discrimination in our state constitution, hypocritical if the idea is to help married couples. The pinheads come out in force in the comments. Who is frightened by gay marriage? Not liberals and Democrats. If we are frightened by anything, it is the injustice that would become part of our state constitution.

Marriage is both religious sacrament and civil institution. Are marriages performed by a judge, the same as those performed by a priest? I think Catholic law still would not recognize the former as a marriage. Can I get married in a church, but not have the State of Indiana recognize it? I would need to research the issue but I think it is possible.

Does canon law establish how property is inherited? No, that is for the civil law. Now, I do think that Islam is a bit different there.

Try thinking about it this way, a church could recognize gay marriage. Nothing that church does alters the fact that Indiana law does not recognize these marriages and those gays married in that church lack the property rights of us heterosexuals.

The reverse is equally true. If Indiana law were to recognize gay marriage, the State of Indiana cannot require a church to perform gay marriages.

Democratic Presidential Candidates

I always am a sucker for underdogs. I know I have posted about Obama running and I know he is not exactly an underdog. However, Tom Vilsack and Bill Richardson are definitley underdogs. I know less about Vilsack than I do Richardson, but both of them are hitting on Iraq. Vilsack has a long op/ed piece in today's Washington Post. Richardson got an Associated Press write up earlier in the week that I had not had time to post. Richardson had one of the funnier campaign ads from last year. I suggest that anyone interested in the presidential race in '08 not get fixated on Hilary just yet (unless you are Rush Limbaugh who I still think has a Hilary fetish). Both of them seem very sensible.

Also, this morning while channel surfing I stopped in at Fox News. Yes, Saturday morning television is that boring but it was a business show. Fox News provides me a does of comedy whenever I stop in. Someone touted Gore in '08. Now, I am not so sure that is a bad idea but Al keeps saying he is not running ever again. I can even say I like Gore more than I did in 2000 - he seems relaxed, even human now and not a stand in for Kawliga. What was funny was the figurative drool on the fellow's chin as if Gore as our candidate in '08 insured a Republican win. I feel pretty certain that a Republican win results from a Gore candidacy.

Interstate Commerce Connector and Messer - something fishy in Shelby County

I did not see this post from Taking Down Words till today. I mentioned an IBJ article about Luke Messer forming a Shelby County group promoting the Governor's Interstate Commerce Connector. The TDW post provided a link to this article in the Shelbyville News. WEll, seems that Messer and his group have attracted attention for some funky avoidance of Indiana's Open Door Law. Some of the local officials were thinking that they violated the Open Door Law but Mr. Messer asserted a different point of view. The Open Door Law exists to keep the public informed of what the elected officials are doing by giving the public notice of a meeting and having the ability to attend the meeting. So this meeting was a private meeting between the lobbyists and a whole bunch of Shelby County officials. To me, that seems a pretty bad way to start a lobbying campaign.

Another bad way to start off a campaign - do not invite any farmers. As somebody says in the article, they are ones whose land is going to be taken for this venture.

Maybe the promoters know that they got popular opposition and want to get the officials on board before the public opinion gets too hot for the officials.

Tony Newton, president of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, said that he wants to learn more about the proposed public-private tollway that could be built through Shelby County and five other central Indiana counties.

"I don't see how we can endorse a road if we don't know where it's going," Newton said. "I don't think the county should come out and endorse a project like that unless we have the support of the people in the county, and I don't think that has happened."

Seems Shelby County finds the ICC as good an idea as anybody else not beholden to our Governor.

More about a diversified economy and GM and skate boarding

The Herald-Bulletin reported on the latest city council meeting. The State Theater gets a tax break. I will repeat myself again that the downtown needs the State Theater. I wonder what the owner means by an "aggressive concert schedule". I also wonder when we will see the doors open.

Also, a fund is being set up to capture money from former GM properties.

In other business, the council also passed first reading of an ordinance creating a nonreverting fund to collect money and pay expenses related to General Motors properties.

The ordinance represents a step out of Anderson’s automotive history and into its future.

“We need to establish this account to receive money from GM property to cover any expenses incurred by the general fund,” said Anderson Deputy Controller Karen Carpenter.

The Anderson Redevelopment Commission and GM have negotiated the donation of property including Plant 16 and Plant 20. The ordinance will create a “property acquisition and disposition fund” to collect funds from the sale or lease of those properties. Those funds, in turn, will be used to promote and market the sale or lease of other such properties.

Seems that our forthcoming skateboarding park will open this Spring and has attracted attention from outsiders. I never thought about skateboarders traveling from Chicago to Anderson but seem that someone has done just that. I know some business owners thought this park rewarded bad behavior. Now the park seems to have the possibility of attracting people here from out of state. I call that an economic benefit.

More on Borg Warner

The Mount Pleasant County Assessor calls the plant a dinosaur:

Mount Pleasant Township Assessor Deb Crosley predicts the BorgWarner factory will become a "dinosaur" after it's vacated.

"I can't see any other manufacturers coming in here wanting to buy a 1930s building," said Crosley, who has ridden through the factory in a golf cart. "They've done a lot of upgrades, but manufacturing is now run by robots and technology. I can't see it being utilized for anything other than storage and office space. My guess is it will become another ABB situation: sitting there not being utilized for anything."

Not that this comparison with ABB is shared:

"It's a very large facility," said Terry Murphy, vice president of the Muncie Delaware County Economic Development Alliance. "There are not many users who need in excess of 1 million square feet, so you have to look at subdividing and the economics of making it compatible."

The BorgWarner factory is a more typical manufacturing facility than the 740,000-square-foot, former Westinghouse/ABB large transformer factory, which features a 99-foot ceiling.

The first paragraph above and this following excerpt have something to teach us about today's manufacturing:

One drawback to older buildings is that they are energy inefficient, said Cortney Stover, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Finance Authority, which manages the state's brownfields program.

Crosley calls plants like BorgWarner "extinct."

Large plants meant large numbers of people being employed and large property tax payments filling local coffers. Large factories no longer exist. We will not see large segments of our population working at one factory. This makes life difficult for all. Think how easy government had it with dealing with large manufacturing companies like General Motors and Ford or U.S. Steel. Think how easy the workers had it working for those same companies. That kind of world ended a ways back.

I wrote that last paragraph not as an implied attack on unions as is so common here in Anderson. The world was much different 30-40 years ago when we thought the US was top of the heap, always would be and what was good for GM was good for the country. Hindsight is always 20/20 vision. Before anyone criticizes what was done back then needs to put themselves in the shoes of the people making decisions back then.

We do not have the luxury of a limited competition world. We live in a world where manufacturing requires automation and not a lot of bodies and those bodies need skills. Yes, the world of our father's changed and now what do we leave for our children?

We need to emphasize education and skills and flexibility in careers. We need to understand that competition means taking risks and being out on the cutting edge. We need the imagination to recognize new opportunities. We will need to work harder to stay in place.

Consider that about 1,200 are gone from Guide and we got 600 with Nestle. The Greensburg Honda factory will employ approximately 2000. I suggest these show the sizes of current manufacturing jobs: 600- 2000 per plant. That is a far cry from 20,000. To get the kind of manufacturing employment that covers 20,000 people, we need to more companies. (note, I am not even going to talk about wages and benefits differences because that is just too complicated for right now). I doubt that we - or any other place - can find enough manufacturing companies who want to open a plant in Anderson. So emphasizing factory work is not a long term benefit. We need a diversified economy.

I-69 Foodways Alliance and tourism

Another article from the Noblesville Ledger caught my eye today. Group puts food on the map - New tourism group hopes to bring travelers off I-69 to eat in cities, towns.

The alliance group -- which includes chambers of commerce and tourism bureaus from Hamilton, Steuben, DeKalb, Allen, Huntington, Grant, Delaware and Madison counties -- identified 68 hidden culinary treasures in communities along I-69, Haller said.

***

The local eateries or attractions selected by the alliance were chosen because they have a long history in the community, offer a truly unique dining experience or tell a great story, Myers said. More will be added in the future.

By this summer, the alliance expects to have a Web site and printed materials available to travelers at rest stops and cultural destinations along the corridor. Haller hopes to eventually offer food tours for guests to explore several food-related attractions in a single day.

The I-69 Foodways Alliance is a local effort, Haller said, but she expects the effort to catch on quickly statewide. The Indiana Department of Agriculture, several agritourism businesses and the Indiana Historical Society have shown interest in the project.

The article says nothing about Madison County eateries included in the list. Anderson's Herald-Bulletin has nothing on this group.

I think if anyone is ready these posts regularly you know that I think tourism is an important economic development tool. Here we have a group trying to promote our area and nobody here seems to know about it.

Catching up with Commuter rail and the Interstate Commerce Connectorr

First off, and a few days late, but there was a letter in the Muncie Star Press in favor of studying light rail from Indianapolis to Muncie. The writer made a few interesting points:

As a person who has commuted off and on between Muncie and Indianapolis since the fall of 1999, commuter rail would be a real asset. Three years ago, The Star Press reported that over 1,200 Delaware County residents worked in Marion County, and it's likely that this number has increased since then. The market for commuter rail is there.

I believe that, ultimately, the concept will be viewed as not feasible. No rail line currently exists between Lapel and Noblesville, and the cost of construction ($1 million per mile) would most likely be prohibitive. In addition, detouring to Noblesville is not the most direct route between Muncie and Indianapolis, and I strongly believe that the levels of ridership on any commuter train will depend upon it being the best alternative available. An indirect route is not the best option and would negatively affect ridership.

I found the comments pretty reasonable, too.

Yesterday, TDW posted an e-mail where the person touted Might Mitch's poll numbers under the title Oh, The Hilarity: Indiana's Federal Rep Scrounges To Make Guv Look Good. Reading the e-mail, I noticed the polls showing the majority do not favor the Interstate Commerce Connector (ie., the Road to Nowhere).

Then tdoay the Indianapolis Business Journal announces that a Shelby County group is forming to boost the ICC.

The Shelby County and Morristown chambers of commerce and Shelby County Development Corp. say their coalition is in the spirit of an earlier decision by Shelbyville's Common Council asking that the Indiana Commerce Connector be studied under state sponsorship.

Luke Messer, an attorney at the Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller LLP and a former Republican state representative from Shelbyville, has been hired by the Morristown chamber to consult in building broader support for the project.

I would love to know where the impulse for this came from - up Brookville Road to Ice, Miller or from Ice, Miller down to Morristown.

Update on Borg Warner

The plant closes 2009. Here is a more complete story from the Muncie Star Press. I suggest reading the comments, too. Probably no surprise for anyone in the area but maybe some surprises in there for those not from around here.

An Anderson Band on YouTube

I found this completely by accident. I never heard of the band before and know nothing about them. That may show how little I get out any more. Or maybe middle-age gives me fears of even more hearing loss. Any way, the band is Tears of Scarlett and the video can be found here. Yes, they are loud. They could have used better lighting, too.

Borg-Warner closing - Wow

This just came though from the IBJ. That is about all I can say. Wow. I think we have all been too dependent on the automotive industry but this still remains a shock. Probably more of a shock than Guide closing that had been predicted for years).

BorgWarner Inc. said this morning it will close its 780-employee Muncie powertrain components plant to cut costs.

In December, the union voted unanimously against reopening its contract two years early, after the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company threatened to close the plant if workers didn't accept cuts in benefits.

It's not clear if some of the workers at the Muncie plant will have the opportunity to transfer to other BorgWarner operations.

This is third announcement this year of a major Indiana auto plant's closure.

Last week, Visteon Corp., based in Van Buren Township, Mich., said it would close its Connersville parts plant Sept. 1, throwing 890 out of work. And in January, Pendleton-based Guide abruptly closed a taillight plant. That closing affected about 1,000 employees.

Revitalizing a downtown - how it ought to be done

From the Noblesville Ledger:

The city will take public comment on its strategic plan for downtown at 5 p.m. Feb. 13 at City Hall, 16 S. 10th St. Noblesville officials got their first look at the plan Jan. 29. The plan commission is scheduled to vote on it Feb. 20 and the city council Feb. 27.

How odd to hear that public comments will be taken before a governmental meeting. Here, we'd just say we got a public meeting right before the vote. Noblesville does it better.

They may also have better ideas about how to keep their downtown vital:

The plan includes turning parking lots and underutilized spaces into buildings with office, retail and restaurants on the ground floor and parking garages above. It includes facade improvements and making the White River the center of downtown with Old Town on the east side and New Town, a business district, on the west side. The plan seeks to convince private developers to invest in downtown, and that could be aided by public dollars.

Notice restaurants, plural. I still think we have better anchors for revitalizing downtown. Those anchors being the Paramount and State Theaters. If we could just get the former to offer something of wide interest and get the other open!

Now this is cold

From the Chicago Tribune:

In Chicago, Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Mike Picardi said crews are adding calcium chloride to salt to try to melt the ice on Chicago streets. But he said it's so cold the streets freeze up again after they are treated

Here in Anderson, the roads are slick, nasty and visibility horrid. I saw one city truck when I was out an hourago.

Indiana news we're not likely to hearing in Indiana

Got to get this from New Zealand:

Eli Lilly is having trouble obtaining and retaining insurance coverage for Zyprexa litigation because apparently insurance companies are no longer willing to buy its wide eyed innocence routine when it comes to the company's fraudulent off-label marketing schemes.

The rest is here. I am beginning to wonder about Lilly's business practices. I am also beginning to wonder if our Governor did not learn some business skills while working for Lilly:

In filings with the SEC, Lilly admits that it is having problems and that the company may end up having to pay its own Zyprexa costs, but blames it on the insurance industry stating: "We have experienced difficulties in obtaining product liability insurance due to a very restrictive insurance market and therefore will be largely self-insured for future product liability losses."

I added the italics. When I saw that I thought - how Mitch-like, to blame someone else.

Moving Ideas

I pass this along to those looking for progressive organizations and ideas outside of Anderson. No, it is nothing like Two Men and a Truck.

On the road to other things - beer and economic development

I got to admit that I am not much of a beer drinker. Also, I feel the need to say that I meant to write something a lot more substantive than this post today. Then I am taking a break from some early morning work and reading headlines and I see this one from Australia. I will get to the other post I meant to write today later today.

Wineries have these tour things, why not breweries? Sounds like they do it in Australia. So I goggled Indiana breweries. Here is what I found:

1. Indianabreweries.com has a page for tours but nothing listed (most of its pages are blank).
2. Beerexpedition.com has a page here but no date when it was compiled.
3. Beer-lover.com has information here in a table form.
4. Indianabeer.com has a map (even if it does look like Barley Island is in Indianapolis and not Noblesville) and a calendar of events.
5. The Brewers of Indiana Guild has a newsletter page here.
6. Micro Labels has a listing here.

If all this seems a bit silly, well it is until you see something like this:

NINE G Brewing Company in South Bend, Indiana is available for immediate sale. Almost $600,000 has been invested in NINE G Brewing Company. This investment does not include brand development, customer base value or sweat equity

That is the capital investment. Nothing in the rest of the announcement about revenue. For those of you reading this and thinking about tax bases - think about the property taxes, the sales taxes, the income taxes, and the alcoholic beverage taxes generated by these businesses.

We might not think much of tourism. Tourism does not come with large buildings which generate property taxes. Tourism does not result in durable goods like cars. On the other hand, we do not make auto parts here and a whole bunch of those factories are gone. My practical Midwestern skepticism does not like the idea of a local economy based just on tourism. Well, other than French Lick and that is a unique situation.

I also hate the build it and they will come mentality of Mitch Daniels You can build anything and think that but the results may differ drastically from the intended consequences. Howard Hughes thought the Spruce Goose would fly and it did - just not very far.

With all that said, I do think we ought to consider tourism as an ingredient of our economic development. Think about these breweries, think of their ability to contribute to the local economy, and think how the contribute to their localities if people come from outside their localities to visit them. That's where tourism comes into play - as the bonus to locally generated income. Setting up a tour of Indiana breweries would bring out-0f-towners with their dollars with benefits to the local economy.

Mass transit hearing - Terri Austin news

From Jim Shella's blog:

February 1, 2007 12:11 pm

Those who feel the Transportation Committee in the state Senate gave too little attention to mass transit issues while passing a toll road bill the other day will be happy to know that the House Roads Committee will take a different approach.

Chairman Terri Austin plans a February 14th hearing with national experts coming to discuss mass transit possibilities.

Austin says she wants to raise the debate to a new level.

I assume the Governor's Tollroad to Nowhere is to be included in the discussion.

Small businesses key to economic development

The Small Business Administration has these newsletters. Today I received one publicizing a new research study called Small Business and State Growth: An Econometric Investigation, written by Donald Bruce, John Deskins, Brian Hill, and Jonathan Rork. I had time to read the summary but I found this paragraph interesting:

The authors conclude that this general finding reveals that state efforts to promote small business formation will be more fruitful in terms of generating economic growth than virtually any other policy option in our models.

I do not think our local or state economic development plans place much emphasis on small business. Why not? True, reading the whole study may point out flaws in the study but common sense tells me that small businesses are necessary - even if only as a component in a larger mix of differently size businesses.

The summary is here and the full report is here. Both are in PDF format.

International news blog and The Asia Times

I really, really want to keep this blog local but then what is local any more? We all part belong to the global economy now. Since getting international news from the Herald-Bulletin or even the Indianapolis Star is unlikely, I am going to offer two sources for international news.

The International Times Herald has its Managing Globalization blog. Very stylish and actually a bit daunting with the depth of its coverage. I will spend some time exploring it but it looks very rewarding. I will probably add this to the blogroll when I get time. Here is a paragraph as an example of its style:

The battle between the barefaced pragmatists and the so-called moralists continues. Earlier I wrote about China’s cultivation of economic allies in Africa. Now, according to our Steven Lee Myers, Russia is talking soft on Iran at the United Nations while considering a deal that could lead to price-setting for natural gas with the same pariah nation.

I know that I will be adding The Asia Times. I used to be a subscriber to its e-mail notices but gave that up when I needed more time for my real work. The Asia Times taught me how much news we do not get here in Anderson, or Indiana and even the United States. (For example how much do you know about what is going on in and with India?). Actually, this one does have local importance. With our mayor traipsing off to China, it might be good for us here to have some idea of what is going on over there. I learned there was a lot going on over in Asia and not all of it in China. Oh, here is a bit of an example for the paper:

US-China: A turn for the worse
If last week's hearings of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission are any indication, 2007 may be a year when the US broadly revisits its policies toward Beijing and begins pushing more assertively for substantive changes, militarily, politically and economically. A big factor in the hardening attitude is China's successful test of an anti-satellite weapon. - Benjamin A Shobert (Feb 5, '07)

Well worth reading and probably one of two or three papers I regret no longer reading. This one will go on the blogroll for sure.

Has the mainstream media woken up? R.I.P. Dubya

The Washington Post media column has an article here on the changing press coverage of the President.

From Iraq, where the media fell down on the WMD debate, to Bush's 2000 campaign persona as a compassionate conservative, many journalists now believe they were led astray. That has given an extra edge to their stories and columns on Bush being out of touch and has fueled an effort to vindicate their darker picture of the war. In short, the mainstream media no longer give this president the benefit of the doubt.

About time is all I can say. Of course, the conservatives will start whining about the liberal media ignoring the slavish fawning given Bush by this "liberal" media.

Update from Kokomo - Taflinger out

The Kokomo Tribune reported that Taflinger decided against running.

Defining marriage amendment - again

I originally posted this to my other blog and then decided it was too political for that one.

Others write more eloquently on this subject. Doug Masson has a very good post here. However, this post on Advance Indiana spurred me to write this post on this blog. I suggest that you read their posts as well as mine. Gary Welch is correct that this is a situation where the lawyers should speak up rather than leave it just to the politicians. I am fairly certain many of my client are not unsupportive of this amendment. So I feel I am sticking my neck out here. However, I am not here to discuss theological points or political points.

Excuse my bluntness but I find this amendment offensive to the state constitution. I also find it a mere political expedient but that I do not find so offensive. I expect the proponents of this proposal to deal in hype divorced from reality. I do not expect them to mangle Indiana's Bill of Rights. You can look at the proposed amendment here.

Why do I write "mangle"? The other writers have the links to all the law but one. I do not see any mentioning the first section of Indiana's Bill of Rights. No one seems to notice Section One of Indiana's Bill of Rights. Since it seems impossible to link to the specific sections of Indiana's Bill of Rights, here is the entire text of Section One:

WE DECLARE, That all people are created equal; that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that all power is inherent in the people; and that all free governments are, and of right ought to be, founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and well-being. For the advancement of these ends, the people have, at all times, an indefeasible right to alter and reform their government.

(Indiana's Bill of Rights in its entirety is here.) I see the proponents of this amendment wanting to neuter the Declaration of Independence. If people really want this amendment defining marriage, then they should also amend Section One. Maybe so that it reads like this

WE DECLARE, That all power is inherent in the people; and that all free governments are, and of right ought to be, founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and well-being. For the advancement of these ends, the people have, at all times, an indefeasible right to alter and reform their government.

I call this version mangled but it does possess a certain honesty - if this marriage definition amendment passes

The Indiana Law Blog excerpted several news stories on this and I found this part of one excerpt very interesting:

But Jim Bopp, an attorney who is active in state and federal election cases and anti-abortion cases, told senators that such claims "are bogus." He said the Indiana proposal's language is significantly different from that of Ohio's ban.

Bopp said the Indiana language would simply prevent a court from ordering marriage-like benefits for unmarried couples. But he said it wouldn't prevent the legislature from writing laws that allow unmarried couples to have specific benefits.

I do not know Mr. Bopp but I have heard of him. Assuming from his reputation that he is not an idiot, I find his statement disingenuous to say the least. All that gays and lesbians want are those marriage-like benefits that our state government confers on married people. Indiana does not recognize common law marriage but Indiana does recognize some cohabitation rights for unmarried couples. Those include opposite sex couples. So this amendment does affect opposite sex couples. Those cohabitation agreements get enforced in our courts and not in the General Assembly. Mr. Bopp's argument gives the General Assembly the power to legislate for unmarried couples but would not let the courts enforce those agreements.

I do think that Section One mandates that the state government confer those marriage-like benefits of Mr. Bopp on gays and lesbians. We have a statute preventing same-sex marriage but I know that the Indiana Supreme Court will never follow Massachusetts and Vermont and New Jersey and find that law unconstitutional. So this amendment serves no real purpose other than scaring those of us Hoosiers into supporting the proponents of this amendment. So the amendment advances the political ambitions of a few while doing nothing more for those frightened by the phrase "gay marriage" than already accomplished by statute and creating potential harm to those of our fellow citizens who are not the immediate target of this amendment's proponents.

These consideration ought to be enough for us to think rationally and find this proposal a bad idea. Still, how the proposal explicitly mangles the equality rights contained in Section One angers me. These rights existed in Section One since 1816 but they are not mentioned in connection to this amendment. That they go unmentioned strikes me as dishonest and disservice to those are being lead to believe that this amendment is a good thing.

Bad news - closed businesses here and elsewhere

I think Visiteon's closing its plant in Connersville has been pretty much beat to death. I would offer this article from the Indianapolis Business Journal for consideration for our local consumption.

Economic development experts say Connersville, which has a population of 15,400, doesn't have to founder in bad news.

The city has a good shot at landing parts suppliers to the $550 million Honda Motor Co. assembly plant under construction less than an hour's drive away in Greensburg, said Tom Miller, a Greenfield economic development consultant who wrote the state's economic development strategy.

"Those workers would be a valuable asset for a number of companies," Miller said. Otherwise, Connersville might find success pursuing such hot industries as alternative energy and health care, he said.

I italicized that last sentence because I think it bears on us in Madison County. We have iPower but what are we doing about focusing our development towards newer industries?

Locally, teh Herald-Bulletin reported we lost Morano’s on the Meridian, Penguin Point and Best Drive Thru Feed Barn. I do not thik I have been in Penguin Point in over fiftenn years. I wondered how it survived all this time and now I wonder what killed it.

I ate once at Morano's and then wife put an embargo on eating out with the kids. The food was very good and I am sorry to see it go. However, it did seem a bit like Fort Zinderneuf . No restaurant will survive downtown unless there is more to do downtown of an evening. Those that are there survive on their lunch business. I have no idea about Morano's lunch business. It looks like the State Theater remains in the process of opening. I still think the only way for Anderson's downtown to succeed is to copy Muncie and push entertainment venues. For example take a look at the Muncie Free Press.

Foreign trade

I know there is criticism of our Mayor's oversea trips looking for investment in Anderson. I will tell you that I am not necessarily one of those persons. I am critical that no one seems to know what is coming out of these trips but that is not a problem with the trips themselves. The Mayor's latest newsletter had news about Smith continued efforts with Japan and Israel. My understanding is that Canan over in Muncie is doing the same thing with China. I do wonder why the city makes the choices for overseas marketing that it does. However, anyone who thinks that our economic development does not need to include businesses who will export internationally needs to read this editorial from the Washington Post.

Touting newsletters - one from Senator Lanane and one from our mayor

Senator Lanane is sending out a weekly newsletter of Senate bills. Here is a an example from this week:

Education

Local schools would be able to choose how best to use state mandated professional development and parent-teacher conference days under SB 544. The proposal seeks to provide school corporations with the authority to dismiss students for three full days instead of six half days required by current law. The bill would save an estimated $8 million in school transportation costs. SB 544 is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development. In other action, members advanced SB 213 which would extend the number of student instructional days from 180 days to 200 days by the 2010-2011 school year.

Commuter rail study

As an alternative to building more roads and paving over more of Indiana farmland, members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Transportation and Veterans Affairs explored a different approach this week while considering a bill I authored, SB 105. The legislation would require the Indiana Department of Transportation to conduct a feasibility study regarding implementation of a commuter rail system with service between Muncie and Indianapolis. The proposal calls for the study to include possible routes, the consideration of stops along the rail system in the growing communities of Anderson, Noblesville and Fishers, and estimated costs and potential usage of the proposed rail system. In addition, the bill authorizes the department to apply for any federal grants available to conduct the study and requires completion of the study by August 2008. SB 105 was approved and now goes before the full Senate for further consideration.

I think he is doing a good job with this. No grandstanding, just the facts of what is going on. Sign up by going to his web page.

I wish I could be a bit happier with the Mayor's newsletter. I find myself disturbed that the Herald-Bulletin did not care to report on this:

This past Thursday, the City of Anderson sponsored a breakfast for a business delegation from Israel. In addition to providing them information about why Anderson is the right place for business, Flagship Enterprise Center director Art Patterson was on hand to introduce our small business incubator advantages. And it was good to see Sherwin Pomerantz again. We met Sherwin during our business trip to Israel where he works to development economic opportunities for Israeli businesses in Indiana. In addition to Art, Sam Pellegrino of Old National Bank and Outside Sales Representative Greg Winkler rounded out our representation.

It could use a better proofreader but at least the Mayor is trying to keep us informed of what he is trying to do. this is the first to get this newsletter, so I will withhold any other criticism. You can sign up for this newsletter here.

Keeping track of the General Assembly

For those who want to keep track of what the General Assembly is doing, Indiana has Billwatch. It is free and you can sign up here. Then you get e-mail updates.

I slso suggest that you keep an eye on Masson's Blog. He has a list of bills posted on 1/407 here and has created a category for 2007 legislative session here.

I am using the information from Masson to sign up for information from Billwatch.

The Interstate Commerce Connector lives on

Thank goodness for Taking Down Words. Between work, writing some articles and starting another blog, I have not been able to write anything on this subject. I probably ought to be embarrassed by this. I think this is the most important state initiative in the area. As I also think it barely rates being described as a crock, I should have been doing better. I started this on January 20 so some of it may be a bit dated.

There is a new website on the Governor's toll road proposals. Again, kudos to Taking Down Words for pointing the way. Alltollded.com has a page for the ICC called Indy Bypass Toll Road.

TDW provided the pointer to article by the Indianapolis Star's Matt Tully: Mass transit gets stuck in slow lane at Statehouse. Madison County got a mention besides Senator Lanane:

Jerrold Bridges, with the Madison County Council of Governments, traveled from Anderson to support Lanane's bill. He said many areas competing with Indianapolis for life-science jobs are far ahead when it comes to public transportation.

He pointed to air quality benefits, economic development potential around rail stops and young workers who enjoy walkable cities where your car doesn't dictate your life.

"It's a competitive issue, as well as a quality-of-life issue," Bridges said.

I would suggest that there is no great distinction between the competitive issues and the quality-of-life-issues. Also, I suggest reading the TDW post, especially the comments. I got to admit that I find myself annoyed by the myopic view of some but there is a comment about costs that has not been rebutted.

I am glad to see our Senator Lanane getting behind this idea. I know that he has been interested in the idea for the past few years.

I found this on Matt Tully's blog:

Paging Bart Peterson

Posted by Matt Tully

The most interesting part of yesterday's Senate committee hearing on the new suburban Indianapolis toll road came when Sen. Jean Breaux spoke up.

"I'm curious why there would be no one representing Marion County in the discussion," she said, about planning for the new toll road.

Committee Chairman Thomas Wyss looked stunned, saying, "This is economic development at its best." He argued the new bypass would be fantastic for Marion County. He was puzzled by the concern coming from Breaux, an Indianapolis Democrat. It was as if Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, had never even considered the idea that a toll road meant to spur development outside of Indianapolis could actually harm the city.

"We don't know that it's going to be economically beneficial," Breaux said.

She's right. But you really can't blame Wyss. After several weeks of debate about the new toll road, Mayor Bart Peterson has declined to express his support or opposition. Indianapolis isn't trying to be a player in this issue.

It's surprising that an Indianapolis mayor would stay out of a debate that could have an impact on the city for generations. But most believe Peterson either does not want to offend Gov. Mitch Daniels, or is certain Democratic House Speaker Pat Bauer will kill the idea when it moves to the House.

The Noblesville Ledger attended another of Gustin's road shows. I-69 needs attention, says resident.

We all know we need economic development. We all want economic development. So we are going to be susceptible to any offer of a better economy. However, the Governor has not shown one iota of fact to support his claim that this will benefit anyone other the company who gets the contract to build the road.

Compare the Governor's sales pitch with this from Alltolled:

This study concluded that, if a freeway were built to totally encircle Marion County, it would reduce traffic volume on the very NE corner of I-465 between I-69 and I-70 as well as the west and northern legs of I-465. It would also reduce traffic on I-69 between the new freeway and I-465 as well as traffic on SR 9. But, the freeway beltway would also increase traffic on I-70 between this new beltway and I-465.

The study further concluded: "These travel simulations indicated that most I-69 traffic was either destined for the Indianapolis region or would use I-465 to travel through the study area. The need for a new freeway bypass of Indianapolis to serve I-69 traffic was not indicated."

Old news - Brain Drain

I wrote this back on the 20th. It is from press release

Senate Bill 34 would provide graduates of Indiana colleges and universities a refundable income tax refund of 5 percent of their tuition and other fees. That refund could be claimed for up to 20 years.

According to the US Department of Education and the Legislative Services Agency, an estimated 50,000 Hoosiers would be eligible for the tax credit in 2008.

Senate Bill 35 would make student loan payments more manageable for graduates by having the State Student Assistance Commission assume 25 percent of the yearly student loan payments on both the principal and interest. This program would be available to those graduating after June 30, 2007.

“If we want to strengthen and grow our economy, we need to get serious about this effort,” said Rogers.

Both Senate Bill 34 and Senate Bill 35 have been referred to the Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy where they await a hearing.

I was trying to find a comment on Taking Down Words that I thought was just about brilliant. As I recall the gist was that the Governor work the business end - give businesses a credit who locate here and hire our college graduates. I doubt this Senate Bill is going to go over well if we are subsidizing people living in other states.

The Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund

I know I have made a few comments about the dismal Indiana economy and the even more dismal Anderson economy. Well, I was brought up that just complaining does not solve anything. That if one cannot help, then get out of the way. In the spirit of helping, I want to introduce you to the The Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. Here is how the Fund describes itself:

The Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund was created in 1999 by the General Assembly to stimulate the process of diversifying the State's economy by developing and commercializing advanced technologies in Indiana. The enabling act created a Board, representing most of the academic and commercial sectors of the State, which establishes Fund award and review policies, and approves awards.

The Fund makes awards in two broad categories: Science and Technology Commercialization and Centers of Excellence. In addition, the Fund provides cost-share on behalf of Federal proposals submitted by Indiana-based entities

On the other hand, it is a bit disconcerting that the News and Events page is pretty barren. Also, there has not been a board meeting since July. Maybe because Mighty Mitch is not so much interested in 21st century projects but in building toll roads?

One more thing from last week

As I said in a post below, I was on hiatus most of last week. I did get to hear the NPR news as I was in the car a lot last week. I mentioned Chuck Hagel in a post a long time back and I got to commend the guy for standing up and saying what was on his mind.

Here are few excerpts from a Wall Street Journal column a friend sent me:

This is what he said: Congress has duties; in the case of the war, meeting those duties was not convenient; Congress did not meet them.

And so: "The Congress has stood in the shadow of this issue, Iraq, for four years. As [John] Warner noted...we have a constitutional responsibility as well as a moral responsibility to this country, to the young men and women we ask to go fight and die and their families. ...This is not a defeatist resolution, this is not a cut-and-run resolution, we're not talking about cutting off funds, not supporting the troops. This is a very real, responsible addressing of the most divisive issue in this country since Vietnam.

"Sure it's tough. Absolutely. And I think all 100 senators ought to be on the line on this. What do you believe? What are you willing to support? What do you think? Why are you elected? If you wanted a safe job, go sell shoes.

"This is a tough business. But is it any tougher, us having to take a tough vote, express ourselves...than what we're asking our young men and women to do? I don't think so."

Later: "I don't question the president's sincerity, his motivations in this. I never have....Part of the problem that we have, I think, is because we didn't -- we didn't involve the Congress in this when we should have. And I'm to blame. Every senator who's been here the last four years has to take some responsibility for that.

"But I will not sit here in this Congress of the United States at this important time for our country and in the world and not have something to say about this....I don't ever want to look back and have the regret that I didn't have the courage and I didn't do what I could....

"I would go back to where I began, and pick up on a point that Chairman [Richard] Lugar mentioned: coherence of strategy. I don't know how many United States senators believe we have a coherent strategy in Iraq. I don't think we've ever had a coherent strategy. In fact, I would even challenge the administration today to show us the plan that the president talked about the other night. There is no plan. I happen to know Pentagon planners were on their way to the Central Com over the weekend. They haven't even Team B'd this plan....And I want every one of you, every one of us, 100 senators, to look in that camera, and you tell your people back home what you think. Don't hide anymore; none of us.

"That is the essence of our responsibility. And if we're not willing to do it, we're not worthy to be seated right here. We fail our country. If we don't debate this...we are not worthy of our country."

Folks, this is what the legislature is supposed to do - play watchdog to the executive. Tonight's new had stories about Hugo Chavez having sole power in Venezuela. I cracked wise a bit about Bush being envious of Chavez being able to govern without a legislature. Then I realized that is what Bush did for almost six years.

But Mr. Hagel said the most serious thing that has been said in Congress in a long time. This is what we're here for. This is why we're here, to decide, to think it through and take a stand, and if we can't do that, why don't we just leave and give someone else a chance?

The column ended with remarks about John Kerry. I had not heard anything about Kerry on the radio. As this column came from the Wall Street Journal, I thought the following was even more impressive:

A note too on John Kerry, who, on the floor of the Senate, also talked about Iraq this week, and said he would not run for president. Clearly he saw the lipstick writing on the wall: This is the year of the woman. He also might have been acting on the sense that this is a time of ongoing and incipient political flux. The major parties seem as played out as they are ruthless, and the arc of political fame is truncated: nobodies become somebodies become has-beens before half the country knows their name. The Democrats have no idea what they stand for, the Republicans only remember what they stood for.

But there was Mr. Kerry, liberated by the death of a dream and for once quite human as he tried to tell it the way he actually saw it. Took the mock right out of me. Good for him, and for Mr. Hagel. I wonder if we are seeing the start of a new seriousness.

Well, one could not expect an unmitigated compliment from the WSJ to John Kerry, could one?

Another long piece from the NYRB - Paul Krugman on Milton Friedman

For those that might not know, Milton Friedman was a conservative/libertarian economist who died just recently. Paul Krugman is a Princeton economist who writes for the New York Times. If that is enough to satisfy your curiosity, too bad. This is a long essay on what Friedman got right and got wrong. I have a jaundiced view of economists and economic theory. In my view, economists sound off like prophets keep looking back down the path.

The odds are that the great swing back toward laissez-faire policies that took place around the world beginning in the 1970s would have happened even if there had been no Milton Friedman. But his tireless and brilliantly effective campaign on behalf of free markets surely helped accelerate the process, both in the United States and around the world. By any measure —protectionism versus free trade; regulation versus deregulation; wages set by collective bargaining and government minimum wages versus wages set by the market—the world has moved a long way in Friedman's direction. And even more striking than his achievement in terms of actual policy changes has been the transformation of the conventional wisdom: most influential people have been so converted to the Friedman way of thinking that it is simply taken as a given that the change in economic policies he promoted has been a force for good. But has it?

Considering how influential Friedman has been, it is worth a critical review of his ideas. It may also be a good idea to remind ourselves what the world was like before 1980. A comment in one of my earlier posts blames Anderson's retirees for its current condition. It might do all some good to remember that before Reagan the country was comfortably insulated from international competition. That our fathers and mothers wanted a steady, secure world after the Great Depression and World War Two. General Motors could operate in an inefficient manner because they were still raking in the dollars (if you think differently, read On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors by Delorean) heedless of any competition. (Competition would be Ford, not Toyota). Our unions wanted not a proletarian revolution but security and a house and a chicken in every pot - and a boat and health benefits and retirement and a color television and everything else that they could buy. In turn, that consumerism fed our economy. Japanese products were cheap and not to be compared to our American products. How many remember Zenith or Motorola or RCA or American Motors Corporation compared with those who recognize Sony or Mitsubishi or Toyota?

This raises an interesting point. Milton Friedman often assured audiences that no special institutions, like minimum wages and unions, were needed to ensure that workers would share in the benefits of economic growth. In 1976 he told Newsweek readers that tales of the evil done by the robber barons were pure myth:

There is probably no other period in history, in this or any other country, in which the ordinary man had as large an increase in his standard of living as in the period between the Civil War and the First World War, when unrestrained individualism was most rugged.

(What about the remarkable thirty-year stretch after World War II, which encompassed much of Friedman's own career?) Yet in the decades that followed that pronouncement, as the minimum wage was allowed to fall behind inflation and unions largely disappeared as an important factor in the private sector, working Americans saw their fortunes lag behind growth in the economy as a whole. Was Friedman too sanguine about the generosity of the invisible hand?

We live in a more complicated world than our grandparents just as our parents lived in a more complicated world than their grandparents. We possess our own conventional wisdom. Our parents could not imagine a General Motors that was not the largest employer in the nation. Can we imagine a world where Wal-mart is not the nation's largest employer. I do not know if our world is necessary better than that of forty years ago. I do know that it is a riskier world. I do not think that the increased riskiness has been fully understood by us Americans even by those who embrace the laissez-faire ideas of Milton Friedman.

Historians look back down the path just like economists. Historians rarely try to prophesy, though. I make that point because if we do not know our history we lack any ability not fall into a pit of mythology and superstition. I like free markets but I see them as piratical devices. That is, they are not there for any charitable benefit and they are not therefore always beneficial to everyone. Just substitute "casino" for "market" in the preceding sentences and see if the meaning of the sentences change, or even if they change the meaning of free market. We all have our hobby horses we like to ride. Problems only arise when we fail to recognize that our hobby horses have led us into irrationality. I know no one will ever mistake me for Brad Pitt. On the other hand, our vice-president thinks we have done a fine job in Iraq.

Friedman's laissez-faire absolutism contributed to an intellectual climate in which faith in markets and disdain for government often trumps the evidence. Developing countries rushed to open up their capital markets, despite warnings that this might expose them to financial crises; then, when the crises duly arrived, many observers blamed the countries' governments, not the instability of international capital flows. Electricity deregulation proceeded despite clear warnings that monopoly power might be a problem; in fact, even as the California electricity crisis was happening, most commentators dismissed concerns about price-rigging as wild conspiracy theories. Conservatives continue to insist that the free market is the answer to the health care crisis, in the teeth of overwhelming evidence to the contrary

In the end, we want the assurance that blind faith gives us rather than the ordeals of reality. Reality has the bad taste to knock our blind faith on its behind. Go read the whole thing. It is worth the effort.

Clint Eastwood's new movies

I have not been able to see a movie in a theater since Superman. I am learning how hard it is to see movies with small children and I am pretty sure that Eastwood's new movies are not quite the proper ones to take a five and ten year old to see. That said every review makes me want to see them both. Here is one from the New York Review of Books:

But Clint Eastwood is the first director, to my knowledge, who has made two films of the same battle, showing both sides from the perspective of individual soldiers with fully developed characters. Deftly, without polemics or heavy-handed messages, he has broken all the rules of the traditional patriotic war movie genre and created two superb films, one in English, the other in Japanese: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. The latter, in my view, is a masterpiece

.

A long, long way from Rowdy Yates.

Muncie- free publicity, economic developmement or one awful mess?

Okay, the big news out of Muncie today is a pornographic movie made on Ball State University property.

Trimmer said use of the Kitselman Center is reserved almost exclusively for students participating in Virginia Ball Center seminars. In the past, occasional requests have been granted to Ball State students, faculty and local residents wanting to book an event at the facility, he noted.

In this case, Trimmer said, Gregory "pulled a fast one on us. He was pretty slick about the whole thing, in retrospect."

Gregory said he knew word would eventually get out about Vampire Diaries filming on Ball State property.

But he's prepared for the backlash much in the way he's prepared to bring Muncie to the center stage of L.A's adult entertainment industry.

"All the big companies in the industry are pushing producers and directors to find the next big star in the Midwest," Gregory said. "And it's a lot more than just my company wanting to bring business here.

On this one, I got to agree that this Gregory did pull a fast one on Ball State and their ought to be some backlash.

Hiding Health Care's Costs

Robert J. Samuelson had this column in yesterday's Washington Post. It seems this may be the start of a series by Samuelson and if it is I am going to try and catch them. He makes some points in this column that we might want to think about as the Governor's proposal on health care winds its way through the General Assembly. Here is the point of the column:

However our health system evolves, Americans need to come to a more realistic understanding of its limits. Underestimating its costs and exaggerating its benefits guarantee disappointment. If the present outpouring of proposals signals a start of our needed debate, it is long overdue.

Kokomo's Democratic mayoral candidates

From the Kokomo Tribune, Tony Taflinger made his unofficial announcement to run for mayor of Kokomo.

In a surprise announcement during the public comment period at the Kokomo Common Council meeting, Taflinger quietly said he intends to run for mayor as a Democrat.

“Like most of the community, I have concerns,” he said. “I have concerns about high taxes. I have concerns that city employees who have political statements on their vehicles are told they can’t park on city property.”

An employee of the Kokomo Police Department for the past 10 years, Taflinger also has a cleaning contract with the city through his company, TAF Cleaning Services.

Despite the fact Taflinger makes his living with the city, he said he felt compelled to run against current Mayor Matt McKillip, at least partially because of his own views on the atmosphere at City Hall.

“I work for the city, and in this administration, if your thoughts are different than what this administration is, you’re against them,” Taflinger said. “That’s not the attitude I have, and it’s time for a change.

Taflinger, 44, is a Kokomo High School graduate who has worked previously in security with St. Joseph Hospital, and has volunteered for the Howard County Emergency Agency.

Although he said he will officially file for candidacy today, and hasn’t raised any money yet, Taflinger said he hopes to have a positive effect on the municipal election.

Andy Castner, who ran in 2003, also has said he is running.