“Shall the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Indiana, issue bonds or enter into a lease to finance safe, efficient and functional facilities for the Wishard Hospital project:
1. to allow Wishard to provide access to care for all residents of Marion County, including people who are seniors, poor uninsured or vulnerable regardless of their ability to pay; and
2. to allow Wishard to provide specialized care, including to victims suffering from traumatic injuries or severe burns; and
3. to allow Wishard to work with colleges and universities including Indiana University School of Medicine, Ivy Tech Community College, and the Purdue School of Pharmacy, to teach future doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in Indiana?”

“Shall the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Indiana, issue bonds or enter into a lease to finance safe, efficient and functional facilities for the Wishard Hospital project:
1. to allow Wishard to provide access to care for all residents of Marion County, including people who are seniors, poor uninsured or vulnerable regardless of their ability to pay; and
2. to allow Wishard to provide specialized care, including to victims suffering from traumatic injuries or severe burns; and
3. to allow Wishard to work with colleges and universities including Indiana University School of Medicine, Ivy Tech Community College, and the Purdue School of Pharmacy, to teach future doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in Indiana?”

You better count you votes on the council again. Looks like Indianapolis will be smoke-free on Nov. 30.

Give me a muncipal corporation, a salary so I can quit my job, and a few million funnelled in via PACs and I'm sure the opponents of the referendum could've made the case just as well as HHC did.

What quality of government, ENDORSES Wishard styled referendum language?

Well, the self-interest might not be direct. How many of these folks are retired from IU? How many work at IU? How many work at Marion, U of I, and Butler in the nursing or other medical fields? How many have kids who use Wishard for free health care for themselves and their five born out-of-wedlock, no dad around kids?

I still hold that the vast majority of people who voted for Wishard did so because of some self-interest. Hell, that self-interest may have even been to keep blacks and Hispanics out of the surrounding hospitals.

I really hope you are correct, in that these people voted for Wishard because they wanted it. I also hope that all of those types understand that I don't want to hear one complaint about property taxes going up because of Wishard. I don't want to hear “We were lied too!” or “They said it would be paid w/o property taxes.” If they were really that supportive of the Wishard mission in general, then that means they are willing to pay for it out of their own pocket.

I paid close attention to voters: mostly middle-class or upper-middle-class folks, northern side of town, retired or gainfully employed, almost all, I'd guess, had their own private health insurance. So your observation isn't correct. But overwhelmingly sterotypical and uninformed.

Here's the rub: most of those voters were only one generation (or less) removed from Wishard as the only health care choice for their family, friends, neighborhood, etc.

And they had another overwhelming message: there, but for the grace of God, go I. We could all be a Wishard poor patient tomorrow.

Take the blinders off. Pay attention. Anti-referendum folks did not make their case. It's that simple.

Ugh, not really. More like that the folks who had a vested, personal interest (most likely a paycheck from Wishard, or free healthcare from Wishard) voted to keep that interest alive and well. What the property tax issue showed me was that most folks won't complain or stop government until _after_ they get screwed. It took $11K/year property tax bills to finally get people, who likely lean left themselves, to go downtown and bitch at government.

This will end up exactly the same. If enough taxing units get their pass on the caps, and those costs end up needing property taxes, then folks will once again get massive bills and start complaining about government…a government _they_ voted for.

It was a stunning victory for the Wishard folks. Those who opposed it probably had no idea it'd be this lop-sided. Losing isn't fun. They're still entitled to any review they wish. But I was an Inspector for two large precincts last Tuesday, and I can tell you this:

Like it or loathe it, the folks who voted last Tuesday were there out of deep respect for Wishard's mission. There were no massive errors. It was a long day, and the counting was more difficult than a typical election.

Conspiracy theories won't help change this single fact: voters spoke, loudly. I think they won every single precinct in the county.

You need to get back in the game. These people have run your revolution into the ground.