Mort Marcus Response to the NY Times article about Indiana

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Realist Columnists uses Outside Observations to yet again try to Teach Hoosiers a Lesson

Excerpts:

“The article gave a factual presentation of our state’s economic circumstances, but with an overriding sarcasm that left a bad taste in Hoosier mouths.

Probably this piece was assigned to the reporters before our Governor withdrew from the presidential primary race. However, since they already did the work, and it was a slow news day, an article depicting the difficulties of the denizens of Indiana must have seemed harmless.”

“This is our on-going problem. In good times and bad, Indiana generally fails to match or exceed the national rate of growth. We may not choose the hardships of a leadership position, but dare we settle for 25th or 33rd position in the economic derby of the 50 states?

We boast our fiscal position is sound, but we cannot claim our public services meet responsible standards. Part of the problem is money. We don’t want to invest in Indiana.”

“Would anyone want to invest in Indiana when the quality of our communities crumbles under the fiscal burden of a Tea Party mentality? Soon our low taxes will be all that we have to offer investors.

Ironically, the NYT was able to see all this while most Hoosiers remain blind to the disintegration of our state. And we were offended!”

“Few candidates for mayor this year and the two candidates-presumptive for governor in 2012 don’t talk about these matters. The so-called “social agenda” of abortion and gay marriage are more important to voters than the “survival agenda” of a state in danger of becoming a hole in the map between Detroit/Toledo and Chicago, Dayton/Louisville and St. Louis.

We have the money to flourish as a state. We lack sufficient insight and the necessary will to be more than mediocre.”

http://tribstar.com/business/x1692751488/EYE-ON-THE-PIE-Hoosiers-offended-by-report-in-the-New-York-Times

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4 COMMENTS

  1. Morton Marcus says:

    “Part of the problem is money. We don’t want to invest in Indiana. We want the private sector to invest in our state, but the necessary public investments in education, public health, public safety and transportation are lacking.”

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Lets go through these with a focus on Evansville/Vanderburgh county:

    Local taxpayers just signed their names to a $149.million debt for public education and added take-home laptop computers for a significant part of the students. The campuses of USI, UE, and Ivy Tech have all recently undergone major expansion and renovation that will no doubt increase tuition at thos institutions.

    I do not perceive public health as being a problem here in Evansville. Many citizens are either covered by government or private health insurance and there are many charitable agencies and not-for-profits that help those who fall through the cracks here.

    I do not perceive a public safety problem here in Evansville either. The local police force does a good job of apprehending criminals. If I had a complaint here it would be more with the courts, which take too long to conclude cases and in many cases are to lenient in sentencing.

    Transportation: Evansville is blessed with air, rail, marine, and highway transportation. We have I-64 as our east-west corridor, and soon will be connected to a north-south corridor by I-69.

    And last but certainly not least: Marcus says “we don’t want to invest in Indiana. We want the private sector to invest in our state…..”.

    I would remind Mr. Marcus of his earlier statement: “money is the problem”. Without that “private investment” the citizens of Indiana have no income from which they can pay taxes. Constantly raising taxes on the same income is a recipe for disaster, as is local government building $240K homes which they then sell for $140K.

    Which is preferable to grow, the private sector economy, or government? I cast my vote for private sector growth. Especially if that can take place without business using politicians to get there hands on the taxpayers wallets.

  2. Mr. Marcus continues to intertwine, Facts, his Political views, and eloquent drivel,–and gets paid for it,–I’d call that a “Modern Journalism” success story.

  3. Morton Marcus is a sick, twisted freak. If the Indiana Legislature and Governor Daniels were to agree to enact legislation to make Indiana a Right to Work state our economy would skyrocket to the top ten in the U.S. in less than one year.

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