Comments on Advance Indiana™: Governor Daniels, What Were You Thinking?

Having Joker Joe lead the commission to study prop...

2007-07-24T08:02:00.000-05:00

Having Joker Joe lead the commission to study property taxes is like having Lee Harvey Oswald lead the Warren Commission.

Daniels is in an unusual political position. His ...

2007-07-22T16:40:00.000-05:00

Daniels is in an unusual political position. His political strenth derives from the weakness of the opposition. He can push through unpopular reforms. Some of them will quite likely reap some considerable positive outcomes. When he moves on to his next gig, (I always thought his Governorship was an experiment in innovation he'd be able to point to later on)he can say, "Look at what we did in Indiana." But, he's doing some real harm as well. For example he has the Indiana Community Mental Health Center system right on the edge of the cliff. He privatized some of the reimbursement and those that won the contracts went for months without paying the providers. Admittedly, the system is in need for some reform, but this clearly was intended to hollow out the system. The fact remains there is a very vulnerable population in need of services. At the level of political rhetoric he makes it sound so appealing. This group which does not have any real political consituency is going to have a rough time. The Community Mental Health Centers have pretty much rolled over. They've been in a stance of learned helplessness since the early years of Evan Bayh.

Yep, Hoosiers are low hangin fruit and rubes in th...

2007-07-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

Yep, Hoosiers are low hangin fruit and rubes in this whole matter. Let's be honest. In the 21st century, why do we elect coroners who have no medical experience? Why do we have local township assessors who have very little training? Why do we have over 1008 township trustees doling out money, when a centralized office in many rural counties could do it better? Why are there school districts with declining enrollments next to those building like crazy when the simple change or a boundary would solve both problems? Why are some school districts hobbling along with 3 elementaries when they can only afford to have one?

POLITICS and POWER... no one who has it wants to give it up. And with change-adverse Hoosiers, it's only compounded. Let's really shake things up and get a fresh look. The Constitution is 150 years old. Maybe it's time for some real amendments instead of messing with marriage.

It wasn't a sneer. It was a statement of fact.

2007-07-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

It wasn't a sneer.

It was a statement of fact.

I've been too involved this week with Black Expo t...

2007-07-22T07:34:00.000-05:00

I've been too involved this week with Black Expo to be concerned with the anonymous nattering nabobs of negativity hurling personal barbs and sneers ... some bitter and spiteful folk want to detract and distract from civilized discussion into the mud of sniping and smearing informed commenters who dont conceal their identities under a brown paper bag or the cowardly label of "anonymous"..

It's a decent exchange of ideas mostly because, th...

2007-07-22T01:14:00.000-05:00

It's a decent exchange of ideas mostly because, there's only one Wilson post.

To all the people who have posted on this topic I ...

2007-07-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

To all the people who have posted on this topic I had to write and say, THANK YOU! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject. I say, more of this and less of the other. I know I am not adding to the topic of this thread but I appreciate the discussion.

Yeah, the RV thing was a charade. But it worked. ...

2007-07-21T16:53:00.000-05:00

Yeah, the RV thing was a charade. But it worked. Low-hanging fruit, indeed.

It is exactly what a governor should be doing. Especially in the leadership vacuum among our three Indiana branches of govt.:

The Judiciary is run by the Chief Justice, a decent fellow but by no means a legal giant.

The Legislative branch was run by Sen. Garton for too damned long. Now, power is kind of shared by the Speaker, who's a government employee and a goof, and the Senate President. Collectively, the entire legislative leadership might share a brain and a half.

The Executive is led by Mitch. Who bamboozled all of us into thinking he's a good ole' boy.

While he may enjoy power, I don't get the sense he cares if he's there forever. Ergo the Geist residence.

So if the other two branches of government abdicate serious consideration of government's role in our lives, and the taxes required to pay for it, via court cases or legislation, have at it Mitch.

He can't do any worse.

That said, this Commission is stacked from the get-go. I think I know the result already, because the chairs are both strong personalities:

They'll recommend less government, and abolishing the property tax system.

A camel is a horse put together by a committee.

2007-07-21T11:55:00.000-05:00

A camel is a horse put together by a committee.

This is triangulation as part of the runup to the ...

2007-07-21T11:51:00.000-05:00

This is triangulation as part of the runup to the re-election campaign. He's co-opting the Dems. I don't think Daniels is really all that much a genius....it's just that Hoosiers are "low hanging fruit" when it comes to easy pickins. After all this is a group of people who bought the RV schtick along with the cap and Dockers. Bush's budget director a good ole boy? Yeah right.

Sen. Luke Kenley, in my opinion, is the only sharp...

2007-07-21T09:27:00.000-05:00

Sen. Luke Kenley, in my opinion, is the only sharp knife in the drawer. He knows what the problems are and he knows how to correct them.
Unfortunately, politics get in the way and people like Kenley are tosses aside and rebuked.
I can personally attest that Kenley never stopped working on solving the property tax problem.
When he talks people need to listen.

The first 8:20 is spot-on.All these appointees wil...

2007-07-21T08:48:00.001-05:00

The first 8:20 is spot-on.

All these appointees will make Ice Miler's suite at the Dome a little crowded this fall, dontcha think? With these "new" appointees to jostle around, wherever will Carl Drummer sit? And his posse?

Here's another take on the co-chairs:

No locally-elected official can do one thing about the property tax mechanism. It's a state function. So no mayor can change the system if he wants to. And the Chief...well...hasn't he always just loved those robes? So fetching. Tra-la tra-la. Spin, Randy, spin...

Kudos to Sen Kenly for trying. Ditto to Mitch for rolling up his sleeves--however late--and trying.

But:

Any commission with a Mahern on it has two Maherns too many. Enough already. And Sue Ann...damn...I guess they needed to meet the controlable-dame quota.

But why don't we save a lot of trouble, and a lot of side-stepping, and just appoint the whole effing Ice Miller firm to run all of government.

They can do it like they advised the Lawrence water utility. Through Scrivener's notes. That worked out really well.

More nominees, if this is a controlable group anyway: Rep. Jeff Espich, cause God knows he's not been part of the problem for, oh, 30 years; dig Up Wayne Townsend or some other big farmer; how about some of the Water Company cabal--a Moses is surely available, or maybe even a SerVaas/Durham; Al or Kathy ubbard or Mark Miles...pick 'em.

The executive branch of government means just that...

2007-07-21T08:48:00.000-05:00

The executive branch of government means just that. The office of Governor exists to execute the law created by the legislature. It's not the governor's job to create law to solve the property tax problem. That is the job of the legislature. Any kind of commission Daniels sets up to study this is just blathering intended to provide a show for the media. What is the legislature doing about this? If they don't have a committee set up to work on this problem, nothing is going to get done. And if they do, why isn't Advance Indiana reporting it to us?

Funny how Mahern was not president or not on the l...

2007-07-21T08:38:00.000-05:00

Funny how Mahern was not president or not on the library board when to central library fiasco took place, But a Republican appointee was indicted for his roll in this mess.

The study commission's purpose is to make recommen...

2007-07-21T08:20:00.001-05:00

The study commission's purpose is to make recommendations to see
to what extent local governmental
units can be downsized. The
assumption on his part is that centralized merged governmental
units always save money. Thus, if you're a rural school corporation
or a twonship, watch out because some or maybe all of your functions will be taken over
by someone else. The committee's function isn't to deal directly with recommendations regarding real estate property taxes. This is the end of home rule concept.

Let's see, John Hammond picked Gilroy because she'...

2007-07-21T08:20:00.000-05:00

Let's see, John Hammond picked Gilroy because she's a fellow Depauw alum. Lacy Johnson picked Herbert because he's black. Tom Downs picked Mahern, the guy he onced wanted to be Indianapolis mayor. Phil Genetos picked Stafford because he can understand the more technical stuff. And Fred Biesecker picked Ian Rolland because he could.

Kind of like Ice Miller pulling the strings of the...

2007-07-21T08:06:00.000-05:00

Kind of like Ice Miller pulling the strings of the city...

To be fair to the governor regarding this "crisis"...

2007-07-21T07:58:00.000-05:00

To be fair to the governor regarding this "crisis", it should be noted that absolutely no one could quantify the problem. Hell, the best estimate was given days before the legislature ended. Bauer got his rebate though.

Any hoosier knows that change around here doesn't happen until there is a crisis. And then it's typically f'd up by the legislature to restart the cyle to crisis all over. See you in a few years.

Thanks for the correction, anon.

2007-07-21T07:57:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the correction, anon.

There is no IUPUI-Fort Wayne -- it's known as IPFW...

2007-07-21T07:45:00.000-05:00

There is no IUPUI-Fort Wayne -- it's known as IPFW. fyi

Doug, he has been an advocate for overhauling and ...

2007-07-21T07:37:00.000-05:00

Doug, he has been an advocate for overhauling and streamlining local government from day one. And he did cause fits for schools by trying to put the brakes on so many new and unnecessary school construction projects. My comment about his resposiveness is in the context of this latest mess. You are right in the sense that other issues have had a higher priority to date, most notably DST and Major Moves.

If you have to ask, . . . .

2007-07-21T07:32:00.000-05:00

If you have to ask, . . . .

What is this mysterious law firm playing Your Man ...

2007-07-21T07:19:00.000-05:00

What is this mysterious law firm playing Your Man Mitch like a marionette? Baker & Daniels? Bingham-Summers? Krieg-DeVault? Bosma's law office? Inquiring minds want to know!!!

I was extremely dissapointed when I saw the list. ...

2007-07-21T07:03:00.000-05:00

I was extremely dissapointed when I saw the list. How about getting a group of people together who aren't generally part of the problem???

Responsiveness? Daniels has 3 legislative sessions...

2007-07-21T06:15:00.000-05:00

Responsiveness? Daniels has 3 legislative sessions under his belt, and I don't think I've heard him say "boo" about property taxes before this month. Maybe he's been diligently working on this for a long time now, and I've missed it, but I don't think so.

And that's not just a partisan jab. I think Senator Kenley deserves a lot of credit for his efforts at trying to get some of this fixed.