My friends, last month Indiana lost 16,500 jobs.

If you didn’t hear me the first time, allow me to repeat: 16,500 jobs.

There are plenty of economists and political hacks who will tell you that one month’s numbers are a statistical anomaly and we shouldn’t be worried.

Unfortunately, this has been happening month after month since Mitch Daniels took office.

That might not be a huge problem if Daniels hadn’t made a big deal in 2004 promising to bring thousands of new jobs here.

Has he brought jobs? Yes. Half as many as former Gov. Joe Kernan did. Oh, and Daniels has had twice as much time.

The Gov’s people are now trying to say he’s brought thousands more jobs here, but we just have to wait a little longer for them to appear.

I guess that’s the ‘I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today’ method of governing.

Daniels’ latest internal polling shows him up by almost 20 points over unknown and under-funded Democratic challenger Jill Long Thompson. He’s on track to win a second term.

Let’s hope, if he does, that he starts paying attention to the promises he makes - and the people who get hurt when they don’t come true. Those jobs are people, not just numbers.

My friends, I’d like to share with you this week a page from the Republican privatization handbook.

The process of selling off our critical assets and services goes something like this: Ohmygawd, we just got into office and this stuff is soooooo messed up. We’re too dumb to fix it ourselves, so we’re going to pay the private sector to do it.

You know, the private sector, with its companies like Halliburton, the kind of entities you know you can trust with taxpayer dollars and essential services.

At the state level, Mitch Daniels’ privatization fixation has given us prison riots, Hoosiers stuck on hold trying to get food stamps and a Toll Road that will turn a profit for foreign companies for 65 years.

Now we’re watching Greg Ballard do the same thing with the Mayor’s Action Center.

Behind closed doors and without asking for input, he decided to issue a request for proposals to take over the front lines of customer service in city government.

It’s sad to me that in America, a country that prizes ingenuity, our public servants are all too eager to throw in the towel and admit they can’t solve our problems.

If that’s the case, why don’t we just elect HAL or Joshua to office? Computers aren’t accountable to anyone, but then again, neither are these people.

Last week, Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Jill Long Thompson unveiled her “green jobs” initiative.

Tomorrow, Gov. Mitch Daniels will roll out his “taxpayer protection” re-election package.

Later this week, according to talking points distributed by her campaign, Thompson will fire back with a health care announcement that will focus on three areas: making health care coverage more affordable to businesses and workers; ensuring health care is accessible; and putting in place stronger measures to control costs.

Then the ball will be back in Daniels’ court.

A new survey out today from the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics calculates how much respect certain Hoosier pols get on a scale from 1 to 10. (You can check out the news release and cross-tabs here.)

Here’s a chart showing how Indiana’s elected officials and candidates stack up with the likes of George W. Bush, Tony Dungy, Oprah and Mother Teresa:

Here’s what I want to know: How did Mother Teresa only wind up with an 8.5? We’re talking about Mother Teresa, people, the worldwide gold standard for charity and goodness, but apparently that’s just not good enough for some of you.

As Capitol WatchBlog’s newest contributor, allow myself to introduce…myself.

I am Jennifer Wagner, and depending on the company you keep, I’m a vitriolic lefty blogger, a professional political hack or the Nastiest Woman In Indiana Politics™. (I’m also a lifelong Indianapolis resident with a wonderful husband and five-month-old daughter, but that kind of ruins the brand, doesn’t it?)

These days, it’s my privilege to be joining this site as the “balance” to Abdul. Norman will no doubt ensure that the two of us stay on our best, or at least passable, behavior.

In the coming months, we’re going to talk about a plethora of political things, from the Longest Presidential Race In The History Of Presidential Races to the Miraculous Reinvention Of Mitch “Pay No Attention To The Economy, Stupid” Daniels to our very own Accidental Mayor. I promise snark. I promise sniping. And I promise frequent updates you won’t find anywhere else.

You? You just keep reading the site.

Oh, and if you think what I’m saying is bogus, stupid or otherwise crazy, leave a comment. Just remember to play nicely.

Right, well, I think that’s it. Let the games begin.

Editor’s Note: This entry was originally posted Monday night.  I’ve changed the timestamp to move it back to the top of the page.