taking down words

I Love You, Indiana: But How Do We Know You Won't Screw Us Again, Guv?

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette takes note of the Guv's new television ad:

Gov. Mitch Daniels has rolled out a new campaign commercial, and much of it borrows from his 2004 campaign, complete with images of the RV and trips to diners. "Travelin' the state, seein' the small towns, stayin' in people's houses," Daniels says at the beginning of the commercial.

The governor also tackles head-on the idea that some Hoosiers believe he made too many changes – "too much, too soon" in his words.

"I don't expect anybody to agree with all of (the changes), there are too many," he says.

Here's one person with whom the Guv stayed during the 2004 campaign who probably won't be featured in the 2008 version.

By the way, is anyone else kinda creeped out by the underlying message of the Guv's updated version of the same-old-same-old message?

As in: "I know my treatment of you has been a little rough, Indiana, but I brought you chocolates and flowers, and I promise to never, ever be mean to you again if you'll just give me this second chance to make things right."

Let The Speechifying Begin: A Few Photos From The Dyngus Day Fun

Dyngus Day is over, and TDW is tired, but not so tired that she doesn't have time to upload a few photos from the two venues -- the West Side Democratic Club and the Hoosier Tap -- where she joined with fellow Democrats to drink a few beers and chat about politics this morning and afternoon.

Both places were packed, especially the former one, where former President Bill Clinton and former First Kid Chelsea Clinton talked up wife/mom Hillary Clinton's campaign. Former Indiana Gov. Joe Kernan and former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend also heaped praise on Mrs. Clinton.

Former U.S. Rep. and 9/11 Commission member Tim Roemer spoke as a surrogate for presidential hopeful Barack Obama, and both gubernatorial candidates, South Bend native Jim Schellinger and former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson, got their turn at the podium.

Schellinger and his wife, Laura, showed up a bit later at the Hoosier Tap to share in the festivities there. (For her part, that's where TDW wound up because it was nearby and not swarming with people with plastic cords in their ears.) Those photos after the jump, but first, a few from the West Side Democratic Club:

Get Your Dyngus On: TDW Heads To The Bend For Politics And Beer

TDW will be at Dyngus Day in South Bend today, so you'll have to play with the weekend threads or make your own conversation here.

The blogmistress will bring you coverage tonight from the events -- including appearances by Bill and Chelsea Clinton and other assorted politicking -- in Northern Indiana.

Until then, please behave.

One-Year Fix: How The Guv's Tax Plan Is Actually Going To Work Out

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, which actually spends quite a bit of time and thought on its editorial page, runs a lengthy and informative column by Karen Francisco this morning explaining why the Guv's tax relief plan isn't even close to long-term reform, no matter how many times he says it is:

Much of the complexity of the new law lies in the property tax caps the governor insisted were necessary to make tax relief permanent. A companion resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 1, triggers the process of amending the state constitution because its current language – requiring a "uniform and equal rate of property assessment and taxation" – doesn't work with a tax plan that taxes homes, apartments and businesses at different rates.

The proposed amendment must now be approved by a separately elected General Assembly in 2009 and then ratified by a majority of Indiana voters. By 2010, residential property taxes would be limited to 1 percent of their assessed value, so that the tax bill on a home assessed at $100,000 would never exceed $1,000. For apartments and other residential property, the cap is 2 percent. Commercial property would be capped at 3 percent.

The caps have been inaccurately described as circuit-breakers, but true tax circuit-breakers include a mechanism for making up revenue lost to the caps. In Indiana, local units of government and schools will simply lose the money they would have collected from property owners who hit the 1 percent mark. Business owners, with three times the tax exposure, are much less likely to benefit from the caps.

It's the classification of taxpayers that is bothersome. Moses said the higher tax caps for businesses could affect the state’s competitiveness.

"It has serious economic consequences," he said. "When we tax business property at a higher rate than others, our neighbors are going to use that against us. … This could be a very detrimental bill for jobs."

Dyngus Day: Bill Clinton Will Attend Monday Festivities In South Bend

Former President Bill Clinton will be at Dyngus Day in South Bend on Monday. So will TDW. Yay!

Bill Clinton is coming to Dyngus Day.

The 42nd president will campaign Monday in South Bend for his wife, presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., during appearances at the West Side Democratic and Civic Club and the Elks Lodge on Western Avenue, said Owen "Butch" Morgan, chairman of the St. Joseph County Democratic Party. Morgan has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.

Dyngus Day is a Monday-after-Easter tradition in South Bend and other communities in the country, where politicians get out into the community and meet people.

Spokespeople for Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have said both Democratic presidential hopefuls will wage an aggressive campaign in Indiana. Because the nomination contest has been so close, Indiana's May 6 primary could have a greater than usual impact on who becomes the party's nominee.

All Tolled: Buy A Transponder Or Get In Line To Pay Almost Double

Without an electronic doohickey in your car, you'll pay almost twice as much to travel along the privately run Indiana Toll Road starting next month. The Times of Northwest Indiana's Pat Guinane has the scoop:

If you're still paying cash on the Indiana Toll Road, it'll cost you more next month.

ITR Concession Co. is expected to finish installing electronic tolling equipment on the 157-mile highway this month, a move that will allow the private operator to nearly double cash tolls for passenger vehicles. Starting April 1, a trip from Illinois to Ohio will cost $8, up from the current $4.65.

But drivers who use an electronic toll transponder, including an I-Pass or an i-Zoom, won't see a toll hike until 2016.

"Those with two-axle vehicles, which are basically cars, motorcycles and passenger trucks, will continue to have the toll freeze if they have a transponder," said Jennifer Alvey, Indiana's public finance director. "You continue to pay the rates that were set back in 1985."

Raising tolls for the first time in two decades was a linchpin to the 2006 deal that allowed Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels to secure a $3.8 billion windfall for a 75-year lease of the northern Toll Road. But state legislators insisted on softening the blow for Hoosier motorists by setting aside $278 million to underwrite a 10-year toll freeze.

Lawmakers actually prescribed a 40 percent discount until July 2016. But Alvey said the state decided to go with a full freeze to avoid confusion.

The Indiana Finance Authority, which owns the Toll Road, finalized rules Tuesday to implement the new passenger vehicle tolls. Commercial trucks have been paying higher tolls since 2006.

Taxpayers, Take Note: It Was The Guv Who Set This Ball In Motion

Local officials already are having to respond to the Guv's burden-shifting property tax plan. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports that Mayor Tom Henry is mulling ways to make up a massive budget shortfall caused by the "relief" plan:

Saying the state’s property tax plan has forced his hand, Mayor Tom Henry plans to discuss raising local income taxes with members of the City Council.

On Monday, Henry said the recent General Assembly-approved bill to cut property taxes by 30 percent across the state will force the city to look at raising income taxes to prevent layoffs and service cuts. The bill still must be signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels, which is expected this week.

While a 1 percent sales tax increase finances part of the property tax cut, the proposed legislation also includes tax caps on property that limit the amount of money local governments can collect.

The state estimates Fort Wayne will not be able to raise $2.1 million in 2009 and $9.5 million in 2010 because of the caps.

Henry said that anticipated shortfall, combined with the council's $3.7 million property tax freeze for this year, hampers the city's ability to provide all the services residents expect. Because the law also allows communities to raise income taxes to curb the sting of the caps, Henry said the city has to examine that option.

Diversifying the tax base may be a good thing because it reduces the burden on property taxpayers, but Henry said he understands some people will end up paying more with the tax shift. He said the changes offer the city little choice.

"They (the state legislature) are essentially forcing our hand to diversify our tax base," he said.

All Over The Trail: Hillary Heads To Terre Haute, Bill Hits The Fort?

Hillary Clinton will be in Terre Haute on Thursday, according to the Associated Press:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will take her presidential campaign to Terre Haute when she visits the state Thursday.

An announcement by the New York senator's campaign says she will begin her visit to Indiana in Sen. Evan Bayh's hometown of Terre Haute and that she and Bayh will make additional stops across the state. It provides no other details.

Bayh is from Shirkieville, a small community outside Terre Haute.

Clinton's visit follows one Saturday to Plainfield by her rival for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama.

There's also a rumor out there that former President Clinton will be in Fort Wayne on Tuesday stumping for his wife.

Cause And Effect: DOC Finally Making Changes At Indy Juvenile Facility

The South Bend Tribune updates us on the situation at the Indianapolis Juvenile Correction Facility, which drew the ire of a St. Joseph County judge late last year:

St. Joseph County juvenile justice officials say they're cautiously optimistic about news last week that the Indiana Department of Correction will make sweeping changes to its Indianapolis juvenile facility.

The DOC has announced it will end a two-year-old arrangement to house boys and girls at the same Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility by moving the boys to a recently renovated section of the Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility.

"I think it may correct a lot of the problems I wrote the governor about," St. Joseph County Probate Court Judge Peter Nemeth said.

Nemeth wrote an open letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels not long ago, saying girls at the Indianapolis facility, commonly known as the Girls School, were being "warehoused" rather than rehabilitated and were not being adequately supervised. One of the resulting problems was widespread sexual contact between the girls, the judge said his staff had learned.

Nemeth said he had stopped sending girls there and would not resume doing so until changes were made.

DOC officials have denied the changes are related to Nemeth's letter.

Nemeth said he was encouraged by the DOC's announcement that a "staffing plan for the facility is being developed to ensure the appropriate deployment of staff."

"If they are actually doing a staffing plan ... if it means more than just words, I think that is real progress," the judge said. "I applaud them for that. I don't expect their ratios to be as low as ours, but ... you can't have one guard, like this female guard who was assaulted, alone, guarding 30 teens. That's just nuts."

Mea Culpa: Shine Takes Blame For Post-Kelty GOP Rift In Allen County

Allen County Republican Party Chair Steve Shine had a come-to-Jesus-or-whatever-deity-you-support talk yesterday with local GOP faithful -- and unfaithful -- about the future of the party, which has been in shambles since last year's Matt Kelty Meltdown:

Allen County GOP Chairman Steve Shine apologized Saturday to party faithful for not doing enough last year to bridge a schism in the party and asked Republicans to help him heal the wounds from 2007.

In a blunt 20-minute speech, Shine laid bare the open wound that has been festering in the local GOP since last year's mayoral campaign fractured the party. While he also spoke of the accomplishments of Republican officials, his speech focused on the divisions in the party.

He told the standing-room-only crowd of nearly 100 at Republican Headquarters that the party is big enough for divergent ideas and levels of conservatism. He said different viewpoints shouldn’t lead people to attack each other.

"There is no shortage of good people in this organization, no matter where on the spectrum of conservatism they may fall," he said. "There is, unfortunately, a shortage of understanding one another."