Comments on: State Faces $763 Million Shortfall

By: Robert-NW Side

Robert-NW Side — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:53:53 +0000

“Was that just pandering and fabricated evidence? Probably, politicians are all the same.”
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Ding Ding!! We have a winner!
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Of course they lie. People that move into politics want to GOVERN you. This means that they wish to control you.
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MAXIM: Always suspect the motives of anyone who wishes to enter into politics.

By: coupon cutter

coupon cutter — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:39:14 +0000

What happened to all the money Mitch was telling everyone that we had in the bank during the gubernatorial debates? Was that just pandering and fabricated evidence? Probably, politicians are all the same.

By: Mike Kole

Mike Kole — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:00:04 +0000

Ron Paul’s economist, Peter Schiff called this recession with astonishing accuracy. He was shouted down by Art Laffer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfascZSTU4o&eurl=http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2008/11/ron_pauls_guy_predicted_this_m.html

Libertarians were snickered at for talking about sound money, fiscal policy, deficit spending, bloated spending budgets, etc. Snickered at by both Rs and Ds.

By: Mike Kole

Mike Kole — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:48:09 +0000

3%? That’s not a bad start.
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As JFK said, the time to fix the roof is before the rain. Alas, Daniels acts after the rain. How much better it would have been for Indiana had there been a 3% across-the-board budget cut 3 years ago, as the Libertarians were calling for.

By: Adam Smith

Adam Smith — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:28:55 +0000

GIVE US A BREAK

Only in politics is a pay increase described as a pay decrease!!!!

Indianapolis Star:

Daniels’ pay as governor was supposed to increase to about $108,000 in 2009, up from the current $95,000. He’s declining to take that pay hike.

Other statewide officeholders and judges — whose pay would have gone up next year by the average increase in state employees’ pay — also will not get raises. And state lawmakers, whose pay now goes up every time judges’ pay rises, will not get that additional bump. But they still will see their base pay rise to about $22,600 from $11,600, an increase they approved in 2007.

The 12 legislative leaders of the House and Senate, however, said they’d each cut their pay by the same amount as the governor, about 13 percent.

Please note that the politicians “pay cut” is being defered, not eliminated.

By: Adam Smith

Adam Smith — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:55:59 +0000

Does this mean that the “grandfather exemption” allowing the current county sheriffs to maintain salaries in excess of the county prosecutors will be eliminated? (the legislative fix from the last pay scandal only applies to new sheriffs)

It just doesn’t seem fair that Sheriff Anderson and the other county sheriffs are getting pay increases with their cut of the skyrocketing fees from more bankruptcies and foreclosures filings.

Maybe the judges and prosecutors can follow the governors example and decrease their pay and budgets also.

By: Shorebreak

Shorebreak — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:38:29 +0000

Thundermutt – I agree that there’s no budget conspiracy here.
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But when it comes to “prominant economists”, it was the not-so-prominent economists who were traditionally ignored by media and the “prominat” economists who’ve been warning for years that the bottom would drop out. Are we still poo-pooing the guys who got it right all along because the media hasn’t made them “prominant”?
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But if that’s the course you want to stick to, I could point you to hundreds of more “prominant” economists who’ve been issuing dire warnings for a few years now. In 2007 the chief economist for Bear Stearns warned of “economic armegeddon” over the next few years. That was published in the Boston Globe and went international over AP wires.
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That’s one example, but it’s been across the board. Obviously the Fed, the White House, and the media pundits and “advisors” have been silent, but that’s what they’re paid to do. There were a few exceptions – Cramer’s been ranting for two years about taking shelter, and I’ve seen MSNBC cut off more than one reporter form the NASDAQ floors reporting that the plunge protection team is at work, because everyone is standing around shaking their heads at stock activity that makes no sense.
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Additionally, I’ve been hearing for years from inside the PBGC that they’re on the verge of folding. When the markets began to contract, a lot of those folks hit the high road ahead of the flood. You can take that fact to the bank.
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Here’s reality (not black helicopters!): People have been told by leading experts for a long time that the bottom is gonna drop out of the market. The question isn’t whether or not we were warned. The question is whether anyone wanted to listen.

By: bigD

bigD — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:28:50 +0000

thanks thundermutt. finally someone who has a clue.

By: thundermutt

thundermutt — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:03:03 +0000

Did any of you actually study economics? When economic activity decreases, the state government’s tax revenues generally go down. Then when the economy recovers, they go back up. It’s really pretty simple.
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I’m not aware of any prominent economist who forecast the suddenness and severity of this recession back when this budget was enacted. There’s no conspiracy…this budget was within the government’s means when it was passed. Now it’s not, and the governor is taking prudent steps to control spending until revenue recovers.
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But keep an eye out for those black helicopters, just in case.

By: patriot paul

patriot paul — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:26:42 +0000

Look for more government dominance in forms of eminent domain abuses by developers who take over land, residents and businesses with government approval. Why? To expand the tax base and bring in increased revenue. Previous knee-jerk reactions of ‘just get another casino’ is tapped out. Look for property tax caps to be delayed, at least for farms and businesses. And look for legislators to pass bonuses for themselves, claiming their salaries are frozen. Look for the food bank to start issuing prozac.