The costs of the Iraq War, 10th anniversary edition
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the US’ invasion of Iraq. A new study by Brown University’s “Cost of War” project tallies the costs of the war, finding the total cost of the Iraq conflict to be devastating: at least…
Indiana jobs announcements, with a grain of salt
Yesterday, Governor Mitch Daniels and the CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Commission (IEDC) announced deals with 9 different companies to bring 2,500 jobs to the state over the next 6 years. About 1,500 of those jobs will come from…
Indiana Toll Road lease was bad deal for taxpayers
Last week, Leslie Widenbener wrote in the Louisville Courier Journal that Indiana officials are looking at options, including increasing the gasoline tax, to cushion a 25% drop in highway funding for the 2014-2015 budget cycle. Those revenue streams will total…
Mitch Daniels knows why Mitt Romney lost
On Friday, Mitch Daniels offered his explanation for why Mitt Romney lost the election. “Governor Romney memorably discussed the 47% of Americans who, he said, are dependent on government and therefore would never vote for him.” The comments he’s referring…
Duke Energy learns its lesson: there are no consequences
Over the last two years, Duke Energy has been involved in 2 major scandals – first, for hiring the lawyer for Indiana’s energy regulator, and second, for ousting the chairman of their newly-merged company only hours after completing the deal….
Rock-solid fiscal gimmickry
I’m stealing the idea for this post from Doug – I would say unabashedly, but apparently I’m “bashed” enough to still give him credit. Just last week, outgoing Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels gleefully announced that more than 3 million Hoosier…
Mitch Daniels loses track of half a billion dollars in 4 months
In just 4 months, the state of Indiana has discovered $526 million in taxpayer funds that had been mishandled by the Daniels administration. On Thursday, news broke that Indiana had discovered more than $206 million dollars that should have been…
Indiana GOP supports taxpayer funds for private highways
Last month, I noted that taxpayer funds from Indiana were being used to hire a lobbyist for a foreign oil company. Now, the Indiana GOP is again supporting redistributing taxpayer money to private, foreign corporations. Last week, the Senate finally…
The Indiana GOP’s Vote Fraud Problem
Over the past several years, the Indiana GOP has spent more than $12.2 million taxpayer dollars on voter education and ID cards since passing a restrictive voter ID law in 2006. That cost doesn’t begin to take into account the…
Hoosier taxpayers foot lobbying bill for foreign company
Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House’s Energy and Commerce committee, has sent a letter (PDF) to Indiana’s official lobbyist to inquire why Indiana is lobbying for the Keystone XL Pipeline project. From the letter: I have…
