Tit For Tat Politics

Has child's play returned to the Indiana General Assembly? House Democrats are angry with Gov. Mitch Daniels for first calling their budget plan a "political document" and now saying their property tax plan will produce a "whopping big tax increase". Democrats have every reason to be upset with the Governor's partisan shots, particularly after he appealed to bipartisan cooperation earlier in the session. Democrats have, after all, embraced his idea of using a cigarette tax increase to fund his health initiative for insuring the state's neediest uninsured, and supported local government consolidation and full-day kindergarten.

The House Democrats latest move, however, suggest they are going to engage in the sort of tit-for-tat politics that is child's play by any other name. The Star's Mary Beth Schneider writes today:

Angered by Gov. Mitch Daniels' characterization of their property tax initiative as a "whopping big" tax increase, Democrats are about to make a whopping big cut in the proposed cigarette tax increase he is seeking.

The House Public Health Committee voted 8-0 last week to increase the cigarette tax by 54.5 cents per pack, for a total tax of $1.10, to pay for health coverage for the uninsured. But today, Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committee are expected to slash the increase back to 25 cents a pack.

"The governor's off-the-cuff comment is creating a storm, creating a furor," said Rep. Charlie Brown, the Gary Democrat who is the author of the health insurance bill, House Bill 1008. "You don't kick me in my right shin while you ask me to do something for you."

Brown said that while three Republicans voted for the cigarette tax increase in the health committee, he has not seen much support among other Republicans. Democrats want to see at least 25 of the 49 Republicans in the House backing the increase before they will pursue it themselves, he said.

No Republicans, meanwhile, voted for the Democrats' property tax proposal, which would allow local government to raise some taxes in order to cut property taxes. Daniels later said the GOP's unanimous "no" was understandable because the measure contained "a whopping big net tax increase."

"We got slapped upside the head," House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said of the governor's words.

As a result, he said, Democrats are prepared now to vote for only the minimum 25-cent increase Daniels has asked for.

Daniels' press secretary, Jane Jankowski, said the governor had no comment.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Democrats were elected to the majority and shouldn't be waiting to see how many GOP votes they can get.

The House Democrats should simply rise above the political fray and ignore the strident partisanship at play here. Health care for the uninsured is an issue Democrats have been championing for a long time. Aren't you just biting off your nose to spite your face to gut funding for the proposal because you didn't like something the governor said?