Back on Track

Yesterday, my grandfather drew my attention to an ad for gubernatorial candidate, Jill Long Thompson. Toward the end of the ad, she says, "Let's put Indiana back on track." I pondered that for a moment.

When our current governor, Mitch Daniels, took over in 2004, the state had been under Democratic leadership for sixteen years. The state was bankrupt. The governor and the state legislature warned that huge tax increases were eminent. They had even stopped funding the state's teachers' pension fund. Property tax assessment was such a mess that the Indiana Supreme Court ruled it unfair and unconstitutional. Crime was at an all-time high. Businesses were fleeing the state in droves. In spite of the fact that our universities were attracting and educating some of the brightest minds in the country, most were choosing not to stay in Indiana. By almost every measure, Indiana was a mess!

Fast-forward to 2008. The state has a budget surplus (achieved without raising taxes), thousands of new jobs have come to Indiana, and property tax reform has been passed by the state legislature. In addition, Governor Daniels updated our roads and highways, convinced the state to observe daylight saving time with the rest of the United States, and reformed the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to make it more efficient and more "customer-friendly."

If Indiana elects Ms. Thompson to put us back on the Bayh/O'Bannon/Kernan track, I think I'll wait for the next train.