What do Hoosiers think?
When likely voters were asked in mid-November who they’d pick if Mitch Daniels was running against former Congresswoman Jill Long or Indianapolis architect Jim Schellinger for another 4-year term, it might be a photo finish, according to a poll taken by an Iowa firm and paid for by The Indianapolis Star and WTHR-TV. The statewide survey of 600 Hoosiers—with a 4%+/- margin of error—also got these results on other questions:
- 40% approve of the way Governor Daniels is handling his job (compared to 55% in March 2005)
- 48% think Daniels’ leasing the Indiana Toll Road to an Australian-Spanish consortium to pay for statewide road improvements was a bad deal; 31% said it was a good deal; 21% don’t know
- 58% are positive about Daniels’ idea of referendum for school and local government projects
- 65% still approve of US Senator Lugar, and 61% approve of US Senator Bayh—both compared to 70% in 2003—52% of Republicans say Bayh’s doing OK, and 63% of Democrats say the same for Lugar
- 28% blame local governments for higher property taxes, compared to 24% who blame the legislature, 19% the governor, 13% not sure
- for lowered property taxes 62% would trade higher sales taxes; only 45% would swap for a higher income tax rate
- 66% favor privatizing the state lottery so proceeds can be used for tax relief or other priorities –the Governor still plans to drop his plan that he said one company was ready to pay $1 Billion, generating $200 Million/year for 30 years
- 49% opposed churches having to pay for police and fire protection; 44% said it would be OK
- 69% oppose letting illegal immigrants gain legal residency and citizenship
- 60% favor everyone paying into a national system of health care coverage for all
- 87% want greater vehicle fuel efficiency required
- 41% said their financial situation was about the same as 4 years ago, 32% worse off, 27% better
- 57% said Indiana is on the wrong track (48% thought so three years ago)
- 49% said they support an Indiana constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage (compared to 56% in March 2005); today 44% opposed the ban (up from 40% in 2005)—the Indiana Senate passed the ban in 2007, but it failed in the House
- 66% disapprove of the way President Bush is handling his job (compared to 61% who approved 3 years ago); disapproval covers his actions on the federal budget (74%), immigration policy (71%), the economy (69%), and Iraq (68%)
- 37% said they would lean toward a Democratic candidate for President if the election was today, compared to 32% leaning Republican.
There are two caveats for these survey results: they are opinions nearly a year before the 2008 elections—a lot can happen by then—and the margin of error narrows or widens the responses, especially as the number polled was smaller than the usual 1,000 and it was weighted to reflect the 8% of Hoosiers who are “18 years and older and African-American” based on 2006 American Community Survey estimates. For more on polling’s “margin of error,” see www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=832
IN: what’s up?
Economic growth in the Sun Belt and coastal cities is slowing down, “snagged by a home foreclosure crisis that first struck Indiana, Michigan and Ohio,” said The Indianapolis Star. Market researcher Global Insight says Indiana got hit earlier and will come out of it earlier, and the state capitol will see its gross product grow 2.6% in 2008, higher than Chicago, Louisville, or Cincinnati. This estimate is a point higher than that made by Indiana University last month.
23 county assessors must get their property data into the IN Dept of Local Gov’t Finance (DLGF) by Dec. 10 or lose their certification. This info is needed for timely 2008 billings. These counties already missed the DLGF’s Nov. 15 deadline—Boone, Cass, Daviess, Dearborn, DeKalb, Fountain, Greene, Harrison, Hendricks, Huntington, Jackson, Johnson, LaPorte, Madison, Martin, St. Joseph, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, Vigo, Washington, White, and Whitley. If the new deadline is missed, the county could lose out on the state’s property tax replacement funds.
IN “pork” totaled $8 Million in the Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations bill, vetoed by President Bush, according to an analysis by Citizens Against Government Waste. Of these 37 projects, 8 were sponsored by Indiana Republicans alone, 13 by Indiana Democrats alone, and 16 were bipartisan. All together, they comprised 7.8% of the total $1 Billion nationwide, almost 4 times higher than Indiana’s 2% of the USA population. The Christian Science Monitor reports that there are nearly $25 Billion in yet-to-be-enacted earmarks.
National debt at $9 Trillion
What you don’t hear in presidential debates:
- the US federal debt, now 3 times the federal budget of $2.6 Trillion, not counting $50 Trillion in Medicare and Social Security obligations ahead
- Iraq just awarded its new utility contracts to companies from China instead of the USA
- America’s credit crisis that Fortune magazine calls “totally shocking and utterly predictable. Shocking, because a pack of the highest-paid executives on the planet [e.g., Merrill Lynch and Citigroup]…managed to lose tens of billions of dollars on exotic instruments built on the shaky foundation of subprime mortgages. Predictable because whether it’s junk bonds or tech stocks or emerging-market debt, Wall Street always rides a wave until it crashes.”
Give your two cents worth atwww.facingup.org/blog.
Racial economic inequality
“The dream that one can rise up from humble beginnings and achieve a comfortable middle-class living, if not attain great wealth, transcends racial lines. But is this a reality for black and white families alike?” This is a question that was addressed by a study by The Brookings Institution, and the answer is mixed.
- Though mid-point family income for both black and white families has increased over the last 30 years, a racial income gap still persists. While income dropped for 30-year-old males, it increased for females, particularly for whites. So, today black family income is 58% that of whites, in their 30s.
- 68% of blacks born in middle-income families grow to have less income than their parents. While 37% of white middle-income kids move up to the top 40% of American incomes, 45% of black middle-income kids drop to the bottom 10%. And 54% of black kids born into the bottom 10% stay there compared to 31% of white kids.
Is it any wonder then that only 20% of blacks say they’re better off than 5 years ago, while 37% of whites think blacks’ situation is progressing? That’s what the Pew Research Center learned from a poll this fall. Pessimism is hard to break, they said. A majority of blacks said they still face discrimination in restaurants, shopping, renting or buying homes, and applying for jobs. See http://people-press.org and www.economicmobility.org for more details.
New IRS rates
Starting Jan. 1, 2008, the standard business travel mileage rate will be 50.5¢ per mile—up 4%—with the charity volunteer mileage rate at 14¢ per mile.
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