Some new fodder for the state's economic-development campaign: Ya'll come to Indiana! We can be had cheap, 'n we don tawk funny:
Why is Indiana becoming a center for call centers? With IBM's announcement, Indiana has unveiled five new call centers in the past six months.
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"We have a very well educated population and our cost of living is low and therefore our wages are lower than the average of the country," Will said.
In 18 states, municipalities have taken to augmenting their budgets by charging a fee when police or fire departments respond to an accident. This amounts to double billing, since we already pay for those services through our taxes (yeah, OK, I know the same thing happens with public transportation and a few other things). If you were worrying that the same thing might happen here, you can stop:
Leave it to a libertarian to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of the matter. While everyone else is fussing about church and state issues in the matter of Indiana's "In God We Trust" license plates, Rex Bell of Hagerstown asks:
Maybe there should be a clinic or a rehab program for the easily shocked:
INDIANAPOLIS — Property tax bills for homeowners could jump by an average of nearly 24 percent statewide this year, according to a new estimate showing far bigger increases than had been previously predicted.
“This is shocking stuff,” Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said Tuesday. “This is the worst property tax news I've seen in 30-some years here.”
This would be easy to make fun of, but I'd glad somebody is thinking about such things, and it's kinda cool that it's happening in Indiana:
INDIANAPOLIS - A major training exercise designed to simulate the response to a nuclear detonation is planned next month at a southern Indiana military training center - a site getting a $100 million renovation to help soldiers prepare for urban warfare and disasters.
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If this isn't a cautionary tale, I don't know what is. Be careful about where you do what you do:
As they sometimes do, Indiana legislators are stumbling to the end of a session with much major legislation still unresolved. A lot of things will be done in the last few days. Legislators in the past have passed complicated bills it is later clear they haven't completely absorbed. Think they might do it again? Consider the example from New Jersey:
Jay Bookman, deputy editorial page editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, likens toll-road leases such as Indiana's to Nigerian Internet scams in which foolish people think they are going to get "billions and billions in free money! Just step right up and sign here on the dotted line. . . ."
But of course, to make such an arrangement work, there's gotta be a sucker somewhere. Look in the mirror. You're it.
Two heavyweights duke it out:
Indianapolis - Mayor Bart Peterson called on lawmakers Wednesday to give the city the authority to raise taxes to improve police protection.
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House Republican Leader Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) did not mince words.
"The mayor needs a lot more than those two bills to deal with his public safety problems. . ."
