The Guv has been traipsing across Indiana these past two weeks talking about expansions and making other economic development announcements. Perhaps he knew this news was coming today (emphasis added):

Between June 2008 and July 2008 nonfarm payroll employment increased
in 14 states and the District of Columbia, and decreased in 36 states.
The largest employment increases were recorded in Texas (+17,700), Ken-
tucky (+11,300), Kansas (+8,800), the District of Columbia (+6,700),
and Tennessee (+5,700). The District of Columbia posted the largest
over-the-month percentage increase in employment (+1.0 percent), fol-
lowed by South Dakota (+0.9 percent), Kansas and Kentucky (+0.6 percent
each), and North Dakota (+0.3 percent). The largest employment decreases
occurred in Florida (-21,400), Georgia (-18,900), Indiana (-16,500),
California (-14,900), and Arizona (-14,100). Alaska experienced the
largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment (-0.7 percent),
followed by Indiana (-0.6 percent), and Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, and
Utah (-0.5 percent each).

Yeah, our economy’s really heading in the right direction.

For those of you playing along at home, here are a few additional fun facts:

• Between July 2007 and July 2008, Indiana’s unemployment rate jumped from 4.4% to 6.3%, an increase of 1.9%

• According to figures released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Indiana was 44th in the nation last year in terms of GDP growth. [BEA, 2007 GDP Report]

• Between February 2005 and July 2008, Mitch Daniels has created only 20,500 jobs for the state of Indiana.

• Under the leadership of Gov. Joe Kernan - between September, 2003 and January, 2005 - Indiana gained 52,500 jobs.

Mayor Greg Ballard is scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow with Republican House District 97 candidate — and erstwhile Seventh District Congressional hopeful — Jon Elrod.

You’d think, given that we’ve witnessed more than a dozen murders and a seriously injured police officer over the past two weeks, that Ballard would be holding a press conference to talk about crime, perhaps even to lay out a detailed plan for how he’s going to address this violent spike.

Nope.

He’s planning to announce that he’s going to serve as Elrod’s campaign chair for his re-election effort.

That’s right. In the middle of a homicide streak that’s got the city scared and looking for leadership, Ballard is focused on politics.

That, ladies and gentleman, is apparently the Number One Priority of the man who once promised voters he’d put their public safety first.

Clearly, the guy just doesn’t get it.

How silly is it that the Marion County Auditor is sending out 8 cent rebate checks to property taxpayers?

I’m not blaming Billie Breaux one bit for this. The legislature, in its all-consuming mania for getting all the credit for property tax relief, has dictated every aspect of this process, right down to the wording and the size of the type in the letter that accompanies the checks.

But couldn’t our crack lawmakers have included the same language that’s in the income tax law, that the state doesn’t have to issue any refund, nor do taxpayers have to pay any obligation, when it’s less than a dollar?

So we have the silliness of county government spending more than five times the amount of the rebate just on the stamp to mail the check.

Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker just tossed out an overly broad law requiring bookstores and other retailers to pay a $250 registration fee to sell sexually explicit material.

In her ruling, Barker wrote that “[a] romance novel sold at a drugstore, a magazine offering sex advice in a grocery store checkout line, an R-rated DVD sold by a video rental shop, a collection of old Playboy magazines sold by a widow at a garage sale … would appear to necessitate registration under the statute.”

But what about the kiddies? How will we ever protect them from nekkid people fornicatin’ and such? Why does that stupid Constitution always have to get in the way?

I got two words for you, folks: narrow tailoring.

If you want to regulate filth, you should probably make at least a surface attempt to define filth and really target what you’re trying to get at.

Oh, and if you’re really trying to figure out what’s wrong with America’s youth, here’s a hint: It ain’t Playboy.

We all arrived on this planet as a result of sex, so perhaps we should spend a little less time vilifying it and a little more time explaining it to the young’uns. Who knows? We might even manage to reduce unwanted pregnancies and our abortion rate along the way.

There’s smut out there, and we can have a frank discussion about how much smut is too much smut and how said smut should be regulated, but we need to stop blaming society’s woes on people doing the nasty.

The Constitution allows for quite a bit of wiggle room as we strive to achieve the balance between the First Amendment and government regulation, but this was a bad law, and Barker was right to thwack it upside the head.

This week’s property tax events here in Marion County once again highlight the need for some type of county government reform by consolidating offices as recommended by the Kernan-Shepard report. It’s obvious that there are so many cooks stirring the broth that not only is it spoiled, but it’s often impossible to determine who spoiled it.

On Tuesday, County Treasurer Mike Rodman held a news conference to explain the 2007 catch-up property tax bills, which were just being mailed to homeowners. Rodman and his aides gave a very detailed, informative presentation, which answered most questions. But he knew homeowners would have more, and he wanted them to know up-front that he didn’t have most of the answers.

What if I disagree with my assessment? Call Greg Bowes, the County Assessor. When can I expect my rebate check in the mail? Call Billie Breaux, the County Auditor. Why do I have to wait for the rebate check, when it would have been so much simpler and quicker to apply the rebate as a credit on the catch-up bill? See your House Democratic majority, which refused to even hear a bill to do just that.

All of those issues (except the House Democratic one) would be greatly affected by combining the offices of Treasurer, Auditor, and Assessor, as some reform proposals would do. It might not make the answers to those questions any more palatable to taxpayers. But it would at least put the onus on one official. And it wouldn’t matter if he or she was elected or appointed. The trail would still lead to one door, to one person who could be held accountable if things went wrong. If elected, that person could be tossed out of office. If appointed, his or her boss would be in hot water. But there would be no shifting of blame or questions or issues or anything else.

By the way, notice that all the people to whom Rodman transferred questions or criticisms (Bowes, Breaux, House Speaker Pat Bauer) are all fellow Democrats. It shows just how seriously our elected officials fear any revival of last year’s taxpayer revolt. Party loyalty is taking second place to self-preservation.