tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post114027732430561013..comments2024-03-25T13:42:25.771-05:00Comments on Advance Indianaâ„¢: Democrats' Election Strategy Is A Losing Strategy For IndianaGary R. Welshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1140680583938130612006-02-23T02:43:00.000-05:002006-02-23T02:43:00.000-05:00I happen to think the Toll Road lease is a good id...I happen to think the Toll Road lease is a good idea. At the end of the day, far more jobs will be created and opportunities developed than one can imagine.<BR/><BR/>As a Democrat whose parents were, indeed, Democrats, I am a Dem not becuase of my parents, but because the record is very clear that the R's will continue to try to harm me, as a gay man, for the rest of my life.<BR/><BR/>Further, I am a social progressive but a fiscal conservative. I happen to believe that either party could most likey do a good job for our state, if they were limited to their time in power. I think 16 years was too long for the Dem's and would be too long for the R's. I agree that a big part of our problems is with the legislature.<BR/><BR/>With respect to the Dem's strategy to take back the IND House, we'll see how it all shakes out.<BR/><BR/>Keep up the good work Gary!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1140483687348062902006-02-20T20:01:00.000-05:002006-02-20T20:01:00.000-05:00First, this is a very good blog. I read you almo...First, this is a very good blog. I read you almost as much as I do Taking Down Words. TDW is a bit funnier, but it is very good to see the kind of Republicanism that I knew when I was younger.<BR/><BR/>However, for the first time I must disagree with some of the comments regarding the Toll Road. Even though I am a Democrat, I would have the same doubts if this was proposed by a Democrat. I do not think that that the Governor has made the case that the sale is as good a deal as it may be. I am just as certain that this issue is not as strong as it may be for the Democrats. If the deal is as good as being touted by the Governor, then the issue goes poof. The Governor woould be more convincing if he were not trying the hard sell.<BR/><BR/>Unlike Rishawn Biddle, I see the problem as not two warring tribes but as more of an oligarchic legislature.<BR/><BR/>Lastly, if the issues are going to be as described in the main post then I agree with your thesis. If, however, these issues are distilled down to a governor who is a trifle bit feckless and unheeding of the public then we Democrats might have a winning issue. Too bad that my party does not make more of the government reform issue therein lies a way to lower taxes and start creating a more modern Indiana government.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1140325690886278732006-02-19T00:08:00.000-05:002006-02-19T00:08:00.000-05:00Daniels began his last town hall meeting declaring...Daniels began his last town hall meeting declaring that he was able to reduce spending by eliminating 300 government positions. He claims that the 550 current toll road employees will be guarenteed an INTERVIEW with the new company. So what happens to their pensions......oh yeah he said they might be able to place them in other IDOT positions around the state.........after they just laid off 300 employees. That's what northern Indiana is opposed too. While people in Indy reap the benefits financially over the toll road sale we will be stuck with increased truck traffic on U.S. 20. Forget about a bypass because some rich Republican might have to move his golf course. Daniels is waving the money under your noses and you're selling out your fellow Hoosiers when there are alternatives that have not fully been explored. <BR/><BR/>And you're right it will affect votes in the North. I voted for Daniels and I won't make that mistake again. From now on it's a straight Democratic ticket for me........and I'm not alone. I know of at least 850 others who won't vote for him in the next election.<BR/><BR/>Please come on up here and take a look for yourself. If Daniels wants to sell this to Northern Indiana he needs to guarentee weigh stations at the Eastern and Western edge of Indidan along U.S. 20. He needs to find a better alternative for IDOT employees. That's what will sell the plan up here........it has nothing to do with foriegn investors. Good grief.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1140300910748881422006-02-18T17:15:00.000-05:002006-02-18T17:15:00.000-05:00Very well said RiShawn. I can't disagree with you....Very well said RiShawn. I can't disagree with you.Gary R. Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15185079937305083438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12703782.post-1140300402382376622006-02-18T17:06:00.000-05:002006-02-18T17:06:00.000-05:00Certainly it is a losing strategy for the state, b...Certainly it is a losing strategy for the state, but Democrats aren't thinking about the best interests of its citizens or the economy in which they have to work. While some of the opposition is definitely about self-interest -- the Toll Road deal will likely secure Republican dominance in state politics for another half-century because long-promised construction projects will actually get done -- the heart of the opposiiton has little to do with the idea of the 75-year lease or even the details. The Toll Road lease deal is a lengthy document, but it's relatively clear considering that it's a legal document.<BR/><BR/>It all comes down to two facts of life in Indiana. One is brand of the particularly Hoosier unthinking political partisanship: I'm a [insert party affiliation] because my daddy and granddaddy were that affiliation too; those who aren't of that affiliation are my enemy and thus, I must destroy them. The Toll Road deal would be more palatable to those folks if Mitch Daniels was a Democrat and the same goes in the case of Marion County Republicans when it comes to Bart Peterson's Indy Works plan.<BR/><BR/>The other has to do with the fact that most of the opposition comes from people who are neither newcomers nor natives who have lived elsewhere and come back with new ideas and ways of thinking. These are the people who never left Indiana save for a trip to Chicago. They don't read the Economist or Forbes or even the Web edition of the Times of London. So they tend to be endowed with the kind of thinking indicative of never having been anywhere else or of open minds: All ideas from other parts of the world are horrible, not be trusted, and thus, should be ignored.<BR/><BR/>What we have here, in part, is a rather bipartisan war between two camps for the soul of the state, represented in Mitch Daniels and Bart Peterson (for reform) and by Pat Bauer and Scott Schneider (against). It's also representative at times in the battles over gay marriage, a situation where alliances seem to shift. Victory will depend far less on logic than on the willingness of Hoosiers both statewide and Indianapolis to realize the status quo isn't working. And whether most of them see it is an open question.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com