December Poll

Mitch, meet Barack.

Mitch Daniels was one of 40 governors to meet with Barack Obama and Joe Biden during the National Governors Association conference in Philadelphia. While other governors are pushing for the enactment of an economic stimulus package aimed at infrastructure projects, Daniels has not officially signed on but he has offered some advice for dispensing the money. The Courier & Press is reporting that Daniels asked Obama in a letter to fund projects where the economic need is the greatest and called it “grossly unfair” that Indiana only gets back $.92 from every dollar it sends to Washington in gasoline taxes. One thing that concerns me is his call for the gutting the regulations normally attached to federal money for infrastructure projects.

“There are land acquisition rules that are extremely time-consuming — width of rights of way, thickness of pavement, all sorts of design standards. Sometimes they make sense, sometimes they don’t. Let the states decide,” Daniels said. “If this is not a bailout but an economic growth plan, then let’s take the shackles off.”
via Evansville Courier & Press.

Daniels said that Indiana could specifically use stimulus money to expedite the completion of the Interstate 69 extension, possibly fund the Crane to Indianapolis link that is currently unfunded, and/or fund mass-transit projects.

I wonder if his call for the money to be dispensed where there is the greatest economic need will hurt us in the long run. We are one of only seven states with a balanced budget right now, ranked one of the best states in the nation to do business in, and have lost fewer jobs than any of our neighboring states. All these are qualities he spent so much time earlier this year during his reelection bid reminding us of.