Indiana’s Painfully Objective Political Analysis goes to the credit-where-credit-is-due file to extend some praise for Gov. Daniels. Go read the entire post, but the Governor deserves some credit for not being knee-jerk anti-Muslim and for recognizing that the pretense of water based casinos is a little bit ridiculous.

On the first:

Shariq informs me that, yes, it was the Governor, and he called because he had read the press release issued by the Muslim Alliance of Indiana (MAI) decrying the actions of the shooter at Ford Hood, Texas. The Governor tells Shariq he’s proud of MAI. Unlike some other Muslim organizations nationally, MAI does not focus solely on Muslim soldiers and the microscope they are undoubtedly going to face now. MAI’s statement (and its ensuing editorial) is an unequivocal denunciation of the inexcusable act, and it calls on all Muslims to extend their prayers and generosity to military families.

On the second (regarding pleas from the Indiana gaming industry in the wake of Ohio opening up for gambling business):

The Governor states that, if “bailouts” were to occur, they certainly wouldn’t go first to an industry that is profitable. However, the Governor agrees to scrap some costly and ridiculous regulations, such as requiring an engine and sea captain on a boat that never goes anywhere.

I might have more on it later, but with respect to the Fort Hood shootings, Leo Morris had a good point when he said that mental illness sometimes travels through religious extremism to get where it’s going. Now, many Christians, are going to use the fact of Hasan’s religion as an excuse to be pissed off at Muslims generally. I suspect when we find out more about Hasan, we’ll find that he would have been angry about his situation regardless of his faith but he sought out a version of Islam that allowed him to justify murder to himself. We should cast a skeptical eye those aspects of religion, or any belief system, that provides a pretext for acting on violent emotions.

I think we associate Islam with violence because of a sort of confirmation bias coupled with our relative unfamiliarity with Muslims. When Christians commit acts of violence, even in the name of supposedly Christian beliefs (think abortion related violence), we tend not to pin the act on Christianity generally because we personally know plenty of Christians who aren’t violent assholes. Generally speaking, most of us don’t know too many Muslims personally and the ones who make the news are exceptions, and yet, for most of us, Muslims in the news make up the majority of our interaction with Islam. (When I say “us” and “our” – I’m thinking of Hoosiers.)

Eric Bradner, writing for the Evansville Courier Press, has some coverage of the Governor’s reaction to Indiana’s tax collections being below expectations.

He is adamant that he won’t raise taxes again. (He raised the sales tax a couple years back to deal with increasing pressures on property taxes.) Gov. Daniels also says he won’t release inmates or close parks. Education might be on the block, however.

Indiana collected $254 million less than revenue forecasters projected during the first fiscal quarter of 2009, a period from July 1 to Sept. 30. Of that shortfall, $166 million came in September alone.
. . .
Daniels said he will continue to monitor tax revenues, but he has not yet made a decision on whether cuts must be made and where those cuts would come. He said he’d look to squeeze as tightly as possible before touching education dollars.

The Courier Press is running an AP story on the ACS/IBM welfare privatization contract. The state may have gotten itself into a situation where it has no viable option to actually cancel the contract due to the fact that the contractor is doing a horrible job (at least under normal metrics — if you hated welfare programs to start with and wanted to kill them through a back channel, maybe the contractor is performing quite well.)

Gov. Daniels’ appointee to run the Family and Social Services Administration, Mitch Roob, gave a contract to ACS — his former employer — to review applicant eligibility for food stamps, Medicaid, and other benefits. It was a 10 year, $1.6 billion contract that privatized the work previously performed by about 1,500 state workers. The privatized operation has been riddled with problems – the most common of which are paperwork that is “lost” repeatedly and dropped telephone calls. Information is being sent 5 – 6 times before being acknowledged as “received” by the state. The ACS call center staff apparently has a tendency to just hang up when they get questions they don’t like. Gov. Daniels had characterized the state welfare system as “one of the worst in the country” when he took over. I don’t disagree that FSSA was in bad shape when he took over. But, he’s made it worse.

Paul Ogden has, many times, posted a thoughtful list about when government privatization is appropriate, and he has done so again in the context of the ACS/Medicaid privatization. Government privatization, like communism, seems to be one of those things that works well in theory but not in practice. Ogden suggests that some of the things you need before privatizing government services are actual competing contractors; no long term contracts; avoiding privatizing services for people with no political power; and contractors who are subjected to the open records and other transparency requirements imposed on government.

Gary Welsh has also had some good posts on the subject, particularly with regard to problems associated with having Roob – a privatization disciple in the Stephen Goldsmith mold – heading the department granting the contract to Roob’s old employer.

Needless to say, the ACS contract fails miserably on the Ogden chart. I would suggest that most big ticket government privatization efforts do. All too often, privatization seems to be a way for its champions to reward their cronies for undermining government services that the champions didn’t much like in the first place.

Joy Leiker, writing for the Muncie Star Press, has an article about the continuing costs of the New Castle riot caused by the Daniels’ administration’s decision to rent out cells to Arizona inmates. The administration’s money making plan may have backfired. Ongoing legal proceedings from the riot are costing the state and Henry County money.

Seven of the men have pleaded guilty and their cases now are complete, but 21 others are pursuing jury trials, and they could rack up significant costs for taxpayers.

Already, taxpayers are paying for the defendants’ attorneys, depositions, and in at least two cases, private investigators, according to court files.

One cool thing about being a rich guy who knows a lot of other rich guys and who prefers policies that benefit rich guys one and all — it’s a lot easier to raise money come re-election time.

Democrats knew that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels would be able to raise a mountain of money for his re-election run next year, but $1 million tied to one event?

That’s how much Daniels stands to take in for a fundraiser Tuesday night at the sprawling Carmel home of Scott Jones, the multimillionaire high-tech entrepreneur says.

Lesley Stedman Wedenbener has an article in the Louisville Courier Journal entitled “Daniels Overstepping Authority, Critics Say.” She points to a number of instances where the Governor either didn’t or may not have had the authority to take certain actions — suspending the State’s liquor laws, for example, when implementation of DST would have required bars to shut down an hour early after the NCAA’s Final Four. Other allegations have to do with extending the deadline for counties to adopt local option income taxes and hurdles imposed for transfer of casino ownership interests.

Gov. Daniels calls it “pushing the envelope.” We hear all about “activist judges.” Shouldn’t Republicans be equally against “activist Governors” or really anyone in government who assumes power they don’t have. And, as the column points out, the Governor is selective about his power grabs. Where it suits him, he is perfectly willing to hide behind a claim that he is, in fact, powerless — as he did when asked to do what former Gov. O’Bannon did years ago and suspend the sales tax on gas.