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Morton Marcus

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EYE ON THE PIE: Taxes are toys for legislators

“I don’t believe you,” Carolyn Cornpone laughed. “It’s true,” I said. “Some members of the Indiana General Assembly have proposed tying property taxes to the income tax.” “But,” she said, “that makes no sense. They already intend to raise state and local income taxes just to pay for the property-tax relief they are currently considering.” “Who said Hoosier legislators have to make sense?” I asked. “All they think they have to do is posture for votes.” “Whatever happened to the…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Primaries and prudence demand attention

Today-not tomorrow or next week, but now-is the moment to get involved in improving your life and the lives of your family and neighbors. Don’t delay. All you need do is both of two simple things. First, find out who is running in the primary election on May 6 for the Indiana House of Representatives and Senate from your district. Yes, the national news media have told us that our Indiana primary may be meaningless. They are referring to the…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Readers respond to Indiana stamp

On Jan. 14, I wrote about the new Indiana stamp from the U.S. Postal Service. I objected to the selection of a farm tractor with a cityscape in the distance as being typical of Indiana and invited readers to comment. Below are a few typical remarks: From a reader in Tennessee who grew up in Kokomo: “As I read your column, I was torn between what you were saying and my warm fuzzy memories of my childhood. … Indiana represents…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Subprime mortgages meet subprime plans

I’m a clipper. I clip articles from newspapers, newsletters, magazines and Web sites. For example, back on March 12, 2007, I clipped an article in which the U.S. Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance said, “We monitor the markets all the time, and are hopefully pretty aware of market conditions. It seems to us that the situation [in the subprime mortgage market] is a manageable one, that we’re watching.” That was a relief. Treasury is watching and they believe “the situation…

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EYE ON THE PIE: New jobs: Will dreams come true?

A skeptic would say, “Small potatoes when compared to the nearly 3 million jobs Indiana currently has.” Let’s put 22,600 jobs in perspective. That number exceeds the number of jobs added in Indiana in 2007 when job growth (December-to-December) was 5,800. It also exceeds job growth in 2006, which was 13,400. The reader proficient in arithmetic will immediately recognize that 22,600 jobs are more than those gained by Indiana in 2006 and 2007 combined. IEDC added that, since January 2005…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Hoosier excess contrary to our nature

People think of Indiana as a place of moderation. We’re not known for extremes. We are followers, not leaders. Certainly, we are not risk-takers. How then can we explain some inexplicable behaviors? Indiana’s secretary of state and others were in Washington, D.C., before the U.S. Supreme Court recently to defend the nation’s most extreme voter ID law. No one was prepared to say we suffered from an avalanche of voter fraud. There was not even evidence of a snowflake of…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Indiana being stamped with wrong image

Blessed be our friends at the U.S. Postal Service. They do a great job of collecting and distributing the mail. They face strong competition from private carriers and from the Internet, but they continue to serve the public well. Then, too, USPS always looks for new ways to honor America and Americans through the issuance of new stamps. If a particular series catches on, they can make a pretty penny by selling stamps that are never used. That’s why USPS…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Change economy to raise incomes

My holiday gift was the latest quarterly data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Santa put them in my e-mail box and I played with them when not attending to ritual family matters. Yes, personalincome numbers for all the states right up to the third quarter of 2007. Oh, joy; oh, ecstasy-feeding my lascivious quantitative desires. And what did I find? Over the past year, the third quarter of 2006 to the same quarter of 2007, Indiana has ranked…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Tying up the loose ends of 2007

I prevailed on Evelyn Elkhorn to meet at the new Dunkin’ Donuts. “Doughnuts are both fattening and addictive,” she protested. “Doughnuts are delightful, and life should not be conducted as if its extension is its objective,” I insisted. She yielded, ordering a coffee and two over-sized doughnuts. As we found a convenient table, she asked, “What subject haven’t you covered this year that you wish you had?” That was a tough one. I am free to write what I wish….

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EYE ON THE PIE: Fiscal bombs in Hoosier political waters

The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) issued a “Citizens’ Guide to Property Taxes” on Nov. 20. That document contains the following paragraph: “What factors contribute to property tax increases? Local spending is the reason for property tax increases-or decreases-depending on local fiscal management. Other factors that contributed to increases during the 2006-2007 pay cycle include the elimination of the inventory tax and the onset of the annual adjustment process, also known as ‘trending.'” Got that? Property taxes rise…

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EYE ON THE PIE: The soul-searing side of shopping

For me, shopping at any time, any place is an ordeal. However, from time to time, I am pressed into service by our household purchasing agent. My role is either to be a surrogate buyer or just the designated driver/hauler. When a surrogate I am sent out with lists of desired substances. These lists might work for a less conscientious, or more sophisticated, person. After all, five pounds of sugar or flour can mean only just that. However, I find…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Are unions really that important?

Uncle Uriah Marcus visited us on Thanksgiving. It took over a week to recover. He blames “the @#%$# unions” for most of our state’s woes. Uncle Uriah asserts “them big unions scares businesses away from Indiannie.” A sample of his views: High property taxes: It’s the teachers’ union’s fault because teachers keep pushing up their earnings and reducing their responsibility. Congestion in cities: Bus workers’ unions keep fares too high for anyone to ride the bus. The battle between the…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Privatization of lottery is a winning ticket

It happened on the day that does not exist. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is not a good news day. This year, we got an extra serving of admonitions about obesity from the Centers for Disease Control. Beyond that, we heard the usual stories of indignation and indigestion, miracle recoveries from swallowed wishbones, and promising/disappointing retail sales. Also on that day, Gov. Mitch Daniels deferred for another year his proposal to “privatize” the Hoosier Lottery. Last year, the state…

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EYE ON THE PIE: An open letter to new mayors

It’s strange, but we don’t know who will be the mayors of our Indiana cities for the next four years. Ah, yes, you and I read results in the newspapers and saw jubilant winners on TV congratulated by humbled losers. But how do we know for sure until the state tells us? I didn’t find the latest results on the secretary of state’s Web site. It does have the May 7 primary election results, which provide fascinating information for those…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Resurrecting important tax reforms

With new mayors and council members in many of our cities, it’s time to drag out some previous suggestions for fiscal reform. First, it’s time to reconsider propertytax abatement. But we can’t understand property taxes and their abatement if we don’t understand assessment practices. And, it is not clear what is happening these days with property assessment. For example, does a property’s assessed value change automatically when it is sold, or does it change only in line with the trend…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Children are central issue for ’08

The election campaign of 2008 can transform our state if the candidates focus their attention on children. We can develop a healthy economy and become a model of civility if we focus systematically on our children. Many people are convinced government spends too much. What they mean is that government spends for services that don’t benefit them or services they wish they did not need. Who wants to spend money on juvenile corrections or adult reading programs for prisoners? Who…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Many are fans of ‘the man’s’ plan

This is why I like Mitch Daniels. Speaking about his property-tax program, he said, “When Indiana acts this time, and act we must, our steps must be fair, far-reaching and final,” Look at that alliteration … “fair, far-reaching and final.” Who else in public life gives us sentences like that? Look at his idealism: “fair, far-reaching and final.” Our state is known for its persistent lack of fairness, its shortsighted special-interest legislation, and its neverending tinkering. Mitch thinks he can…

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EYE ON THE PIE: News offers savory opportunities

I save newspaper items thinking they will make good columns. But with only one column per week, I end up with piles of good ideas. Here are four items I found interesting: Another sports opportunity: The National Lacrosse League has canceled its season. I didn’t know there was a league of 13 professional lacrosse teams. This was another instance of players and owners not being able to come to agreement on salaries. Both of those groups and the fans are…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Save our cities and towns from neglect

Whose face is on the dime? It’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt. That’s no arbitrary choice. FDR had polio as an adult. He fought back and became governor of New York and then the only four-term president of the United States. For two decades, from 1938 forward, The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis campaigned to fight polio epidemics. Each January, children and adults contributed to the national “March of Dimes” to raise funds for research and treatment. FDR was the symbol of…

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EYE ON THE PIE: This may not be beginning of the end

“The sky is falling, the sun may not rise tomorrow, the eternal verities are in doubt.” So said the Prophet standing in the public park. Lunch-hour office workers and shoppers strolled past or relaxed on benches. The speaker was seen as a nut, an unfortunate member of the homeless class, driven by drugs to disgrace and dissolute dialogue. But I knew better. This was Phil Prophet, formerly one of the leading mortgage lenders in the state, a regular Rotarian, a…

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