July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
This is no way to build a budget (02/26/07)
Editorial
Is this any way to build a state budget? We don't think so.
Over the past several weeks, it's been interesting to watch the changes in behavior in the Indiana General Assembly now that the Democrats have a narrow majority in the House.
Gov. Mitch Daniels has had to be more accommodating and less heated in his rhetoric. State senate Republican leaders have played a more prominent role.
And, up until last week, the Democraticaly-controlled House was doing a pretty good job of showing it can govern responsibly. Its priorities were clearly different, but it was behaving pretty much professionally.
Then the wheels fell off.
Faced with a recalcitrant member of their own party, Democratic House leaders turned the budget process into a fiasco. To win over a single representative from Mishawaka, the Democrats tossed in $2 million for a school system in his district, $1 million a year for both years of the budget.
In effect, they bought his vote with your tax dollars and mine.
A more confident leadership would have stood up to that sort of petty blackmail. A more confident leadership would have reached across the aisle, looking for ways to compromise on state spending with the Republicans in the minority.
A more confident leadership would even have let the budget vote fail rather than play this sort of cheesy game.
The Mishawaka legislator argued that he was just looking out for his constituents back home, but the fact of the matter is that when lawmakers sit down to do their jobs, they aren't just working for their constituents.
They're working for the state of Indiana as a whole. They're also - given the nature of politics - working for the benefit of their party. This time around neither the state nor the Democratic Party was served.
Mistake number one was for the guy from Mishawaka to put a price on his vote and hold out. Mistake number two - the bigger one - was in the response by the House leadership.
Faced with an opportunity to demonstrate that they are up to the job, they dropped the ball. And they've provided their Republican opponents with more than enough ammunition for the next election. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
Over the past several weeks, it's been interesting to watch the changes in behavior in the Indiana General Assembly now that the Democrats have a narrow majority in the House.
Gov. Mitch Daniels has had to be more accommodating and less heated in his rhetoric. State senate Republican leaders have played a more prominent role.
And, up until last week, the Democraticaly-controlled House was doing a pretty good job of showing it can govern responsibly. Its priorities were clearly different, but it was behaving pretty much professionally.
Then the wheels fell off.
Faced with a recalcitrant member of their own party, Democratic House leaders turned the budget process into a fiasco. To win over a single representative from Mishawaka, the Democrats tossed in $2 million for a school system in his district, $1 million a year for both years of the budget.
In effect, they bought his vote with your tax dollars and mine.
A more confident leadership would have stood up to that sort of petty blackmail. A more confident leadership would have reached across the aisle, looking for ways to compromise on state spending with the Republicans in the minority.
A more confident leadership would even have let the budget vote fail rather than play this sort of cheesy game.
The Mishawaka legislator argued that he was just looking out for his constituents back home, but the fact of the matter is that when lawmakers sit down to do their jobs, they aren't just working for their constituents.
They're working for the state of Indiana as a whole. They're also - given the nature of politics - working for the benefit of their party. This time around neither the state nor the Democratic Party was served.
Mistake number one was for the guy from Mishawaka to put a price on his vote and hold out. Mistake number two - the bigger one - was in the response by the House leadership.
Faced with an opportunity to demonstrate that they are up to the job, they dropped the ball. And they've provided their Republican opponents with more than enough ammunition for the next election. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]
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