Health: Hoosiers weigh, drink and smoke too much and exercise too litte. I get it. But the only answer is another 25-cent-a-pack tax on smokers? Taxing the sinners is a time-honored concept, but where will the money go? If the tobacco settlement is any indication, it won't be toward smoking health-related problems.
OK, sell off the toll road. Somebody else runs it, collects the money. I don't think that means much to most of us unless whoever runs it charges so much that too many vehicles get off and use other roads, or doesn't keep it up.
Local government reform: I didn't hear a commitment for the immediate ability to get rid of some levels of government. But he did talk about the fact that we have more elected officials than anyone and said we have an archaic form of government. And he called for the moving of assessment from the township to the county level; doesn't mean the end of townships, but it's a start. Promising.
First new intiative -- education. Daniels is wrong that our school districts operate mostly independently. They have districts, which can buy things jointly. What is needed from the state is not new tools but clarification on when they can use their existing mechanism and when they can't.
Good stuff on doing the people's business more openly. Daniels has done a lot to make the executive branch more accountable. What he doesn't say (except for leading by example) is that the General Assemlby should do the same for the legislative branch. With a part-time legislature, our representatives having other jobs, conflicts of interest are to be expected, and Hoosiers need to know what they are.
OK, we've made lots of savings by buying smarter and contracting some things out (including -- wow! -- no longer cooking our own prison food.) But the governor also has a plan to "buy Indiana." Even if the stuff Indiana contractors provide costs taxpayers more?
Daniels is, predictably taking bows for his accomplishments, especially for what he sees as a change in attitude in the state. But he's also realistic in acknowledging that what got us "broke and broken" wasn't fixed in a year. The thing he's proudest of, the rapid pace of change he's introduced, is the thing his critics hit him hardest for.
Gov. Daniels will be on TV with his State of the State speech in a few minutes. One of the things I'll be listening for is how commited he is to more local control of government. The House Republican caucus has already come out in favor of letting communities vote on consolidated government. If the governor gets on board, too, it could be the end of a decades-long roadblock by the state.
The displeasure of the Hispanic community with Fort Wayne Community Schools over the case of Alejandra Gutierrez is understandable, but its castigation of Superintendent Wendy Robinson's "insensitivity" needs to put in perspective. Robinson made a valid point:
“There is a piece that's lost in all of this. There's a positive that occurred. Parents are more mindful of what their responsibility is. It's a two-way street. A large number of parents are now walking their children to school and picking them up.”
I'll be live-blogging Gov. Daniels' State-of-the-State address tonight. Just imagine: watching the governor speak while reading about it online and throwing back a brew. Pretty close to heaven, eh? If you feel like posting a comment during the speech or up to half an hour after it's over, go ahead. Downside: "W-eel -f F-rt-ne" will be pre-empted.
We should be glad that 55 percent of Americans still think the best way to get a lot of money is "to save something each month for many years." But 21 percent said the best way is to win the lottery, and 11 percent said "inheriting it."
Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation, said it was of "some concern" that so many people thought the lottery was their best chance at wealth.
No kidding.
We should thank UNICEF for at least explaining to us what "goodwill ambassador" is NOT.
During a television broadcast, Belafonte told Chavez, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution."
Lots of people in the public spotlight have relatives who embarrass them, even Osama bin Laden:
Ouch: Indiana doesn't do so well in an assessment of emergency medical care by the American College of Emergency Physicians. The state gets a grade of D+ and a ranking of 44th in the nation. The group is a tough grader, though; there were only a handful of B's, and I didn't see a single A on the national map. All the states adjacent to us had something in the C range, except Michigan, which had a B-. The national score is C-.
It wasn't that long ago when I was disparaging the whole notion of branding. Writing about Indiana's search for a new slogan, I said this:
When people start talking about "branding" a company or institution, I figure they've lost their way and don't know what their mission is anymore; if you're providing what you're supposed to be providing and people like it, that is your brand.
I am happier today than I was yesterday. I might be less happy tomorrow. Such is the ebb and flow of life. Trying to extrapolate such individual experiences into a snapshot of the national psyche is silly, but it constitutes almost the whole of social science these days, with millions and millions spent on pointless studies, such as this one:
I like hearing life stories, but Judge Alito went on a little long describing his before he finally got around to saying something about his view of the law and judges. I do agree with him that:
A judge can't have any agenda, a judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case and a judge certainly doesn't have a client.
John F. Kennedy gave us "Profiles in Courage." Ted Kennedy gives us "My Senator and Me: A Dogs-Eye View of Washington, D.C." His dog's name is Splash. You can't make this stuff up.
Here's President Bush, speaking in defense of No Child Left Behind, showing that, in many ways, he is no conservative:
"We have a moral obligation to make sure every child gets a good education," Bush told a supportive audience in the school gym.
For "moral obligation," read, "spend lots of federal money," no matter what the outcome. But here's why Bush is about the best we can expect when it comes to federal spending:
I love the defense offered by the Indiana truck driver charged with spying:
