The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette has a breakdown of the top 15 recipients of state money during this past fiscal year. According to the information furnished to the newspaper, 81% of all state purchases goes to state firms. Insurance companies and road contractors ranked high on the list. Here it is:
1. Anthem (Indianapolis) $211 million
2. State Office Bldg. Comm. $103 million
3. E&B Paving (Anderson) $ 97 million
4. Transportation Fin. Auth. $ 83 million
5. Milestone Contractors (Indianapolis) $ 78 million
6. Rieth-Riley Construction (Goshen) $ 69 million
7. Correctional Medical Services $ 49 million
8. Gohman Asphalt $ 43 million
9. Intercare, Inc. (Indianapolis) $ 35 million
10. Liberty Healthcare $ 33 million
11. Walsh Construction $ 27 million
12. Aramark Correctional Services $21 million
13. Walsh Construction $20 million
14. Dave O'Mara Construction $19 million
15. Brooks Construction Co. $18 million
An AP story picks up on a slight-of-hand by the Daniels' administration to change the definition of what constituted an Indiana business, which tilted the figures substantially towards so-called "Indiana businesses," once again proving that figures never lie but liars always figure.
5 comments:
Is that really the Anthem number: $44 Billion with a B? I know we have high health care costs, but could that possibly be correct?
I'm sure this is an inadvertent error on the part of a weary blogmeister. It's got to be million.
But...the CEO of Anthem used to be (and may still be?) a guy named Glasscock. Build your own joke.
According to the information furnished to the newspaper, 81% of all state purchases goes to state firms.
this is a crock, as tdw has pointed out numerous times, and the AP has picked up on it, too.
according to mitch's definition, wal-mart is an indiana business. (i wish i were joking, but i'm not.)
Thanks for noticing my error. The $44 billion is the company's total revenues. The figure is actually $211 million as the post now reflects.
Whether or not the companies receiving state business are Indiana-based doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned. The economic theory of comparative advantage -- that is a nation or state should stick to the goods and services it provides best and should buy those it doesn't produce well from the best provider, wherever they are located -- means that state government is going to buy most of its products and services from firms that aren't based here. The more important issue is whether the companies fulfills its obligations to the state and does so at the highest level of quality and in a most cost-effective manner.
The whole "Buy Indiana" propaganda should be tossed into history's ashbin. The average person doesn't simply stick to Indiana firms when buying their computers or getting e-mail service. Why should state government? And if anything, such a line merely leads to graft and corruption with state agencies awarding contracts based on friendships instead of on most effective provider or producer.
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