Articles

Fiscal crisis calls for drastic measure

Ind. Gov. Mitch Daniels will call the Legislature into special session to pass an acceptable budget, but some legislators think a budget that would satisfy the governor cannot be crafted by the contentious partisans in this developing fiasco.

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Fodder for special session

Charitably speaking, not much got done in the legislative session that ended Wednesday. Now Gov. Daniels plans
to call a special session to force passage of a budget, the only bodyâ??s only legal requirement.

Should anything else be put on the…

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‘Livability’ for Indianapolis

A year into his tenure as mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard over the weekend articulated what may be the
closest thing weâ??ll hear for his vision for the city.

Ballardâ??s State of the City address touted making Indianapolis the…

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Wobbly on township government

State legislators seem to be looking for excuses to dodge the recommendation in the Kernan-Shepard report
to eliminate township-level government.

This wasnâ??t unexpected. Township officials often are close friends and political allies of legislators, so
the legislators donâ??t want…

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Tap the rainy day fund?

The weakening economy is producing worse and worse tax revenue forecasts for Indiana. As a result, Democrats
are calling for Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, to open the stateâ??s $1.3 billion rainy day fund.

Tough times like these are what…

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Workplace smoking policies move backward

The bill in question seems like a long shot. It would abdicate government’s responsibility for protecting citizens’ health
and safety, and place it in the hands of individual business owners.

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Tax cheats, or just ignorance?

A third nominee to join the Obama administration has gone down in flames after revelations about problems
with income taxes.

A Senate panel last night called off confirmation hearings for U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, who was nominated to
lead the Labor…

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Obama and executive salary caps

All things considered, there shouldnâ??t be a fuss about President Obamaâ??s plan to cap salaries of executives
in companies that receive federal bailouts.

Thatâ??s the take of Dan Dalton, an Indiana University specialist on corporate governance.

Dalton points out that…

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Daniels’ budget axing priorities?

Gov. Mitch Daniels said yesterday he wants to spare schools and public safety from the scalpel as he looks
to prepare an honestly balanced budget during a time of declining tax revenue.

But Democrats accuse the Republican of crimping…

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Something to think about as a new year dawns

I think about the economic crisis, the housing crisis, the climate crisis, the energy crisis, the automotive crisis, the Middle
East crisis, the education crisis, the college affordability crisis and all the other crises — real, imagined and manufactured
— and I wonder whether they’ll drive us to the precipice, or even the apocalypse, and whether we’ll change at the last
minute, and, should we survive, whether we’ll remember what we want to forget or forget what we want to remember.

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Let’s limit campaigns to public funds

The only way more ideas, more candidates, more party platforms can gain
any traction, any consideration by the public at large, would be for all political parties to receive, and run only on public
funds.

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