Politics and other nightmares

I wonder which century Evansville Mayor Johnathan Weinzapfel has been living in. Talks between the city and the state and federal governments over sewage discharge broke down, and on Monday Evansville got sued. There is the possibility of heavy fines, and the mayor is outraged:

Anybody still think the state is going to hold the line on expansion of gambling? A legislative panel was told this week that if Kentucky and Ohio go ahead with casino proposals and if Michigan OKs an expansion of its gambling, Indiana could lose as much aqs $250 million a year:

Apparently, the Obama administration is planning to announce new federal policy guidelines that call for ignoring medical marijuana users and suppliers as long as they conform to state laws. Such a move would be a step in the right direction:

If Indiana is going to try to steal retail business from a surrounding state, it had better be Illinois. According to the Tax Foundation, Indiana's combined state and local sales tax rates of 7 percent ranks it 19th highest in the nation (Tennessee is No. 1 with 9.41 percent and five states tie for last with zero). That makes us higher than all adjacent states (Kentucky, 6 percent; Ohio, 6.83 percent; and Michigan, 6 percent) except Illinois at 8.4 percent (sixth highest in the nation).

Mike Pence seems to be creating a bit of a buzz these days:

In the unofficial race for president, just one Republican has been to both Iowa and South Carolina.

It's not former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty or former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

It's Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, whose travel schedule is raising eyebrows.

Does this sound open and friendly in a good-government sort of way?

“The saying goes,

I may be in the minority on this one. Sometimes I wonder about the real value of a gesture such as the one urged by the lieutenant governor:

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman is urging Indiana residents to write letters and send cards to troops during the upcoming holiday season.

Skillman's office received about 20,000 cards for troops last year, and officials hope to top that this year.

The Tax Foundation has examined new Census data to explain where states get their revenue broken down by six sources ( helpful graph here). The U.S. averages are: property taxes, 30.1 percent; individual income taxes, 22.6 percent; general sales tax, 23.5 percent; selective sales taxes, 10.9 percent; licenses and other fees, 8.2. percent; and corporate income taxes, 4.7 percent.

Hey, good news, Hoosiers; we can still go to the poor house, as long as we're willing to move to Hendricks County:

Cypress Manor, one of the last county-owned homes to care for the poor in Indiana, won a reprieve today.

"Strange old world just keeps getting stranger" department:

Some schools across the country have banned alcohol-based sanitizers from
classrooms. These products can pose a serious poisoning risk to children if
consumed inappropriately. Not only do today`s most-common sanitizers consist of
up to 70 percent ethyl alcohol, a higher alcohol percentage than many hard
liquors, in 2006 The Association of Poison Control Centers reported 12,000 cases