“STATE OF THE STATE” - The Real Issues

By the Indiana State Democratic Party

ISSUE: Jobs The Governor has shown no leadership in bringing new jobs to Indiana. The state lost 7,000 jobs under his watch in 2005, and the jobs that remain in Indiana continue to decline in quality. Recent study ranked Indiana as the fourth-worst state in the country for “momentum,” which included analyses of personal income, employment and population.

Mitch Daniels is out of touch with average Hoosiers, and he doesn’t realize that talking about job creation and future commitments does nothing to help Indiana residents put food on the table now. Moreover, Daniels’ administration completely overlooked certain regions of the state when they handed out economic development incentives this year.

Mitch Daniels is more interested in helping out his corporate cronies than improving the state of Indiana’s economy. For example, he stood next to Delphi executives, who are raking in large bonuses, and told the media that $9 an hour jobs for regular Delphi employees are “excellent.”

Instead of focusing on keeping jobs in Indiana, Mitch Daniels is committed to laying off state employees and outsourcing their jobs to out-of-state companies, who pay lower wages and offer cut-rate benefits. The planned closure of Silvercrest Child Development Center is a local example of this failed policy.

The Governor’s jobs agenda is all talk and no action.

ISSUE: Outsourcing government contracts
The Governor has awarded more than half a billion dollars in state contracts to companies that are not located in Indiana after promising voters that on his first day in office, he would stop sending their money out of state. Additionally, according to published reports, a $1 billion contract to privatize Medicaid services will be awarded to an out-of-state vendor, and the Governor currently is pushing the sale of the Indiana Toll Road to foreign interests for a one-time cash infusion.

Mitch Daniels broke his campaign promise to keep taxpayer money in Indiana.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle are growing concerned about the outsourcing and its effects on vital government services.

The Governor’s agenda includes selling off Indiana one piece at a time to out-of-state companies and foreign interests. That’s not what Hoosiers voted for in 2004.

The proposal to sell off the Indiana Toll Road has met with incredible resistance across the state, and the Governor and the General Assembly should consider other alternatives before handing the keys to one of the state’s largest assets to a group of profit-driven foreign investors.

ISSUE: Giving local governments more control over their destinies
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson brought a government consolidation proposal to the General Assembly last year after months of study and consideration, but lawmakers, voting along partisan lines, rejected his attempts to make government more efficient. During that session, though, legislators balanced the state’s budget on the backs of local governments across Indiana. Now, one year later, Mitch Daniels has decided to embrace increasing control at the local level and allowing municipal governments to consolidate services as they see fit.

It’s too bad the Governor didn’t step up to the plate last year to advocate increased control at the local level. He’s late to the game with this “new” proposal.

We support the idea of local control, and we’re happy that the Governor, who’s created more than half a dozen new state agencies since he took office, is going to support smaller, more efficient government.

We hope the General Assembly is more interested in doing what’s right for government this year than it was last year.

ISSUE: Health care
Though it’s routinely on most Hoosiers’ minds, Mitch Daniels has been eerily silent on the issue of affordable health care. Mitch Daniels should rally behind a proposal that allows small businesses to pool employees to purchase lower-cost health insurance.

The Governor has done very little to ease the burden of prescription drug costs, and he refuses to think outside the box on this issue.

ISSUE: Quality of life
Mitch Daniels has spent an inordinate amount of time discussing what he’s done to make government more efficient, but he’s neglected to focus on making average Hoosiers’ lives any better. He’s cut vital services, made it harder to interact with government and ignored critical issues such as job growth and the economy.

Though he ran an “Average Joe” campaign, Mitch Daniels has proven that he’s not in touch with ordinary Hoosiers who’re trying to make ends meet. This is a Governor who thinks $9 an hour is an “excellent” job for average Hoosier employees while their bosses haul in $90 million in bonuses.

Mitch Daniels has advocated a number of policy changes that haven’t resulted in any progress for regular Hoosiers. That’s the definition of “change for change’s sake.”

ISSUE: Education
The Governor has told the media and the public on a number of occasions that education is his top priority, yet he signed a budget last year that flat-lined education spending, leading to teacher layoffs and severe financial constraints in school districts across the state.

Mitch Daniels talks about valuing education, but he has been unwilling to put state money on the table to improve Indiana’s education system. The Governor told us education would be a top priority, but his freshman budget forced thousands of teacher layoffs across the state.

Mitch Daniels constantly vilifies public schools instead of giving them the resources they need to continue to succeed.

ISSUE: Governor’s attitude toward detractors
One of the basic tenets of American freedom is the ability to disagree with government in an environment of open debate. Mitch Daniels has shown time and again that things have to be his way – or else. He alluded to House Democrats as car bombers. He called criticism from the Indiana Democratic Party “boneheaded.” He sarcastically shoots down average citizens who ask him tough questions. Above all, he is arrogant to the point where he is unable to consider anything other than his own viewpoint.

A little more than half of all Hoosier voters cast their ballots for Mitch Daniels, but he is responsible for governing the entire state. How can that happen when he won’t even listen to other ideas?

Indiana has a long history of leaders who seek bipartisan consensus. Mitch Daniels barely tolerates dissent in his own ranks, let alone from his critics.
In the face of adversity, Mitch Daniels would rather takes his ball and go home than give an inch to his opponents.

The Governor talks about wanting to foster new ideas, but any time people disagree with him, he belittles them with a snide comment or put-down.