If Enron's CEO is in Prison...

I am endlessly fascinated by where people place their suspicions. When it comes to financial power, there are two places one can have great suspicion- with corporations, and with government.

I think a healthy dose of suspicion of each is healthy. Both have the ability to buy you out of your life as you know it. However, corporations cannot do so unless you consent... unless government helps bring force into the equation. Government is force. The most dangerous thing to be suspicious of is a government that is too cozy with corporations.

So, it was with interest that I read Rex Bell's latest blog entry. Rex recently ran for Indiana House in District 54 and had the best showing ever by a Libertarian Party candidate in Indiana in a three-way race for that level of office. From Rex's post:

From David Walker, U.S. Comptroller..."The largest employer in the world announced on Dec. 15 that it lost about $450 billion in fiscal 2006. Its auditor found that its financial statements were unreliable and that its controls were inadequate for the 10th straight year. On top of that, the entity's total liabilities and unfunded commitments rose to about $50 trillion, up from $20 trillion in just six years.

If this announcement related to a private company, the news would have been on the front page of major newspapers. Unfortunately, such was not the case -- even though the entity is the U.S. government."

And yet we continually look to the government to solve our problems. It's failed policies of artificial market supports, forced wealth distribution and strangling over-regulation will only continue to force businesses to close or relocate.

Too bad Rex wasn't elected. We need more common sense, no shell games kinds of people like him in our legislatures, in Indiana and in the Congress.

So, those who would rail on about the evils of thieving corporations, I challenge you: Be consistent. If you believe fraudulent accounting should be prosecuted, go the whole route. Also assail the governments that practice Enron-accounting with the tenacity with which you assail large corporations. Remember that there is a greater good to protect here. While Enron may have swindled its shareholders, governments swindle taxpayers who have their money withheld from them prior to receiving their paychecks.

Paint The Town BLUE!

I finally made it downtown with some walking around time and snapped off a bunch of photos of city scenes with plenty of Colts spirit. Here are my favorites of the bunch.

Clear winner. The banner at the top of the building reads, "Actually... Bears fumble in the woods. Go Colts!" On Monument Circle's interior, there stand several ornate light poles. See the detail of the restrained bear. I really like that. Tell the Star to hire me for a photo job.

Walkway from Convention Center. The RCA Dome is visible beneath. This is
probably the most colorful and interesting daytime scene I have encountered.

The Indiana Sports Corporation Building. Days before a Super Bowl, a building across from the RCA Dome should have a decoration in every window. Come to think of it, most downtown buildings should, too.

The Statehouse had nothing. That's as it should be. The State shouldn't be spending a nickel on sports. OK, so the horse is out of the barn on this, but these thoughts still made me grin on this frigid Thursday afternoon.

Union Station and Pan Am Plaza. Several different Colts flags twisting in the breeze.

Mass Transit Debate at the Statehouse



I've had many, many posts showing how mass transit is just a huge waste of taxpayer dollars. I just cannot fathom the lack of reason on this. It's like the windmills in Europe- They don't really do what it is thought they do, but they make people feel good.

I loved hearing Marc Fisher of the Indy Chamber on Abdul's show this morning. he and I debated light rail a few months ago, and today Fisher returned to his talking point: We can't build our way out of congestion. His solution? Build light rail?

Pardon me, but isn't that building your way out of congestion?

And what about the average 80% losses on the average mass transit system? Should we just sweep those under the rug?

Let's hope this doesn't get out of committee.

Look for a master post linking all of my previous mass transit posts. Too much to re-hash and re-research.

Prediction Time

Colts 34, Bears 27.

Peyton Manning hasn't had a really good playoff game yet this year, but I think he's due. Winning three playoff games, plus New England again, really clears the hurdles for him. When he has confidence, Manning has no rival. The Colts have lost enough playoff games in the last few years to learn from. The defense will allow some points, and plenty of rushing yards, but consider it done.

The Bears remind me of last year's Seahawks- a surprisingly good team greatly aided by a soft division and conference, but hardly battle tested. In the big game, these teams tend to fall short. there have been teams that have won Super Bowls despite their quarterback- the Baltimore Ravens come to mind- but with the turnaround the Colts defense has made, I don't see the Bears running over the Colts a la Jacksonville. That's what would be needed. Grossman had exactly one good series against the Saints. He's going to need an excellent game if the Bears are to even be in it at halftime.

Let's see your picks!

Mac Vs PC

I've enjoyed those unique, instantly recognizeable Mac ads with the cool slacker Mac guy and the slightly overwieght, stodgy PC guy.

So, I really like this counterpoint.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0gRgls2eYc

Blue Fever, Around Central Indiana

Here are some of my recent pictures of the more interesting or exuberant Colts related things I've seen around the region.

Nothing more interesting or exuberant than my little girl! Isabel sports her
Joseph Addai jersey.

My insurance agent, Chad Humes at Monte Smith's State Farm, Fishers.

Propane tank at the Co-Op, Noblesville.

A two-story Lombardi Trophy, "Coming Soon to Indy", at Dick's Sporting Goods, Carmel. It was tough to get a decent shot of this, as the sun and snow glare was impossible.

I'm still finding that the business community is having a lot of fun with this, but residences aren't being decorated much at all. I'm going to try to get into the South Side neighborhoods to see what the response is, along with downtown Indy.

The Indy Chicken

Are you enjoying the antics of the Indy Chicken? I sure am. I love seeing news reports with the big yellow chicken standing at City Council meetings.



Don't get me wrong, I rather prefer ponderous, thoughtful discourse, but since Indianapolis is not a place where that sort of thing carries the day, a big yellow chicken will have to do. It's hard to argue against the effect the guy's having.

At any rate, the Chicken has a web site. No word yet on podcasts. From the Chicken's site:

Reason for Protesting: Crime Rate and our Mayors inability to respond appropriately. Tired of dishonest politicians. Tired of unprofessional people in politics. Ignorance & arrogance have no place in City Leadership. If I wanted to live in Detroit, Mich. or Oakland, Ca., I would have moved there. Our City Government is heading Indy in those directions.

Rah rah, Chicken!

Update: I found a link to an RTV6 slideshow: http://www.theindychannel.com/slideshow/news/10778501/detail.html

Super Bowl? Anyone?

So far, I've been left rather flat by the response to the Colts and the Super Bowl. Sure, the rabid football fans are going crazy, but the region is not.

Remember, I'm from Cleveland. People there are nuts about the Browns. The signs and banners we see here in Central Indiana for the Super Bowl Colts right now are little less than what you see around Cleveland at mid-season when the Browns go 6-10.

In my neighborhood, the response is almost non-existent. There were two snowmen wearing Colts jerseys. One was Edgerrin James... who plays for Arizona now.

The 'best' of Sunblest. I like the creativity of dressing up the most melted snowman in Patriots colors. That's pretty cool.

Great sentiment, but The Edge is in Phoenix now.

Not a lot to report here. It's a Super Bowl!

I was told when I got here that in Indiana, basketball comes first. That's fine, but this is a championship after all! Then again, the Browns fans in Cleveland were most intense in the working class neighborhoods. Perhaps Fishers is just too effete, or too caught up in the rat race to notice. I'll visit other areas to see the outward support.

Enjoying The Run

Those who have come to rely on my opposition to the public financing of stadiums may be surprised to learn that I am enjoying the Colts run to the Super Bowl. It is possible to have a set of political beliefs and enjoy the game at the same time. I'm no interested in the disappearance of the NFL, just a major change in public policy. My main beefs are with the governments of my state, my county, and several other county and municipal governments who voted to give Jim Irsay the earth, stars, and moon.

So, I will have some posts this week about the Colts and the build-up to the Super Bowl.

Keep this in mind: I'm originally from Cleveland, so I'm enjoying this. In my lifetime, the best the Cleveland Browns could muster was three trips to the AFC championship in the mid- and late-1980s. (Against Denver, who won all three AFC crowns, and who promptly lost all three Super Bowls, badly.) Other than that, the Browns were generally terrible. The Indians were generally terrible, with the exception of those offensive powerhouses in the 90s that couldn't pitch their way out of single-A rookie league ball. Two trips to the World Series, two lost World Series. The Cavs have always been awful. They never have even made it to an Eastern Conference championship series. Well, they could have been something, but there was this guy named Michael Jordan in Chicago. The NHL Barons were so pitiful in the late 70s that they only lasted two seasons after moving from Oakland.

I was a big sports fan as a kid. My city never won it all. Cleveland was a city that desperately wanted something in those years. I'll never forget my experience in 1997, when the Indians were going to the World Series, when I had to hide in the basement because people were firing guns in the air in the streets. Now, obviously I don't condone that kind of third world stupidity, but it points to the kind of foolish exuberance some places display when they have a civic win.

I'm looking to enjoy the exuberance here in Central Indiana, in the hopes of an absence of foolishness. Look for plenty of pictures!

Alex is 15!

It's simply amazing for me to think that Alex is 15 now. It shouldn't be. He's my height already, which is hard to miss. It's cliche, but the time really does get away from you.

The Koles love to eat to celebrate, and Alex is right on board. We took him to a local restaurant of his choosing for his actual birthday meal, and then took a special trip last night for another.

Two fisted dessert Alex. He choose the Old Country Buffet in Westfield. Nothing a young man enjoys more than endless choices that he gets to make.

Alex sports the desired post-celebration meal pose. Isabel mainly wanted to run around.

At the Don Quijote Restaurante in Valparaiso. After living in Spain for three years, Alex gets a hankering for some of the flavors of Andalucia.

There are a handful of Indiana stores where one can buy Jamon Serrano (and, we actually went to Cincinnati to Jungle Jim's for some), but I'm not aware of any other restaurants that serve Paella and dishes from Spain's various regions. Don Quijote also has an import store where you can get Spanish wines, olive oil, Manchego cheese, cookies, tiles, and other recognizably Spanish items.

Make a wish!

Eminent Domain Watch, SR 32

At what cost will we widen a road? At the cost of chasing a good Westfield business to Florida. From the Noblesville Daily Times report:

When David O. Nelson opened the doors to Performance Feeders, the plant was located on Westfield Road in Noblesville – the same spot where Backyard Archery now stands. Thirty-three years later and a move down the road into Westfield, the plant is closing its doors for good in Hamilton County and moving its operation to another location in Oldsmar, Fla.

Westfield plant president Carl Nelson, son of founder David Nelson, said the whole thing is “horrible.” He said the reason the plant is closing is because the state of Indiana has taken the property by eminent domain to widen Indiana 32.Nelson explained that the plant’s septic system lies in the 10 to 15 feet of property the state wants for the expansion, and there is no other place on the firm’s property to install new sewers, in essence condemning the building.“So because of that is why they have to take the building — it’s only over, literally, like 15 feet, but you can’t operate,” he said.

A dose of common sense would have been a good thing here. For 15 feet, why not shift the road at Performance Feeders so that it could stay? Is that less important than a perfectly straight road? I guess so. Nelson is understandably upset:

“The governor works awfully hard to bring manufacturing here, and they just don’t work too hard to keep it once they get it,” he said. “When you listen to them with their big deals with all these tax breaks and stuff, but with the small manufacturing companies — mom and pop companies with under 50 employees, that’s not really where they’re interested.”

The man speaks the truth. If you have a flashy name, like "Indianapolis Colts" or "Lucas Oil", then you get fabulous considerations. If you are just the salt of the earth Hoosier, you can go pound sand with our government of Republicans and Democrats.

Libertarians oppose mindless use of eminent domain such as this. Libertarians were on the forefront of the opposition to the Kelo v. New London decision, the attempt to take the NK Hurst bean plant in Indianapolis, and countless other less notable cases. We will grudgingly concede the use of eminent domain in true public need cases, such as dams, roads, and bridges, but we insist on fair compensation for the property owner, and we insist on common sense.

Too bad there isn't any common sense here. I hope this is an isolated case, but I imagine this is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Just wait til the US 31 eminent domain games begin. That will be quite a spectacle.

Justice, Swiftly Delivered

I was just thinking back to the old pre-Super Bowl days, when NFL championships were hosted by one of the teams. As a kid, I heard stories of how Cleveland was really abuzz in 1964 when the Browns hosted the Big Game, because the action was all right there- not in Miami, or Pasadena,or under a dome.

I was further thinking how good it really is that the Big Game isn't being hosted here in Indianapolis. Bart would have to play Hide The Homeless for two weeks and then pray to God the murders and carjacking subside.

So it came to pass that Indy suffered another carjacking last night. This would have been all over the national news, I'm sure, if the Big Game were being played here. Let's hope the news story makes the national news anyhow, because it has a happy ending. From the Star:

Indianapolis metropolitan police said a man who tried to steal a car at an Eastside service station was shot by the car's owner.

The would-be car thief was placed under arrest and sent to the hospital. The car's owner, Isaac Wilson, was questioned by detectives but not arrested. Police said they would submit the case to the Marion County prosecutor for a decision on charges.

Steven A. Dotson, 32, was arrested on a preliminary charge of attempted carjacking. Police said he was at a service station at 25th Street and Keystone Avenue when Wilson stopped for fuel in his Jaguar. When Dotson tried to take the Jaguar, Wilson pulled a gun and shot Dotson in the knee.

Now, that is justice! Better than that, it's a reminder to any would-be carjacker that while Indy may be Bart's Wild West, the law-abiding citizenry has not yet been fully emasculated and served up to criminals as defenseless milquetoast. Oh no! Isaac Wilson has shown that if you take criminal action, the risks are immediate, not set to some indetermine future time the cops should happen to show up.

Carjackings are crimes of great opportunity. The thief has the getaway vehicle, after all. By time the bewildered victim gets his bearings and calls 911, the robber is miles down the road. The police usually fail to find the perp. So, Wilson has done what law enforcement couldn't do- remind would-be carjackers that there is an immediate risk to life and limb. This is just one of the many reasons I support both the US Constitution and the Indiana Constitution and thier provisions for bearing arms. Criminals never mind bearing arms. It goes with the territory. When citizens are known to be armed, they are far less likely to be robbed. Every carjacker in Indianapolis must now think twice, and didn't have to until today.

Good show, Isaac Wilson!

The Kickback Arrives

You had to figure that since the Colts were able to pursuade the Legislature to pass a law allowing the doughnut counties to raise a tax to build their revenue-generating palace, plus the City-County Council, there had to be some kind of kickback. Well, today we learn what that kickback is. From Mary Beth Schneider's article:

Too bad you're not a politician.

The Indianapolis Colts on Thursday offered the 150 lawmakers in the state legislature and other Indiana politicians -- including Indiana's two U.S. senators, nine members of Congress and the 29 members of the City-County Council -- two tickets for the face value of $600 each.

Here we see what an ingrate piker that Jim Irsay is. 450 tickets at face value absolutely pales compared to the amount raised in taxes.

Interestingly, those making comment on the article are shouting indignation that the politicians cut the line in front of season ticket holders. It tells us a lot about the partial sense of justice Hoosiers have. Yeah, the season ticket holders should come first, but what about the taxpayers? The taxpayers are building the new stadium, so where's the cry for them? (I mean, besides from me and Fred McCarthy.)

Missing The Hammer

Hammer of Truth was one of my favorite Libertarian blogs. It's been down 'for updates' for several months now- since the election, in fact. Any KHF regular readers know what's going on there?

Consider It Done

Hilary Clinton may not need to be elected President to ensure socialized health care here in Indiana. Republican Governor Mitch Daniels may just beat her to the punch.

Daniels has twice used a State of the State address to promote a 25 cent/pack hike in the cigarette tax. This latest push was a little more specific than the first, with the suggestion that all the money raised should go towards smoking cessation programs, and more fascinatingly, towards paying for uninsured Hoosiers' health care.

I've long noted that persistence with political ideas wins the day. The idea scarcely could get a sponsor last year. This year it seems to be on every Indiana lawmaker's radar. I noted in the Hamilton County Libertarian blog that my own House Rep Kathy Richardson (R-Noblesville) circulated a questionaire that included this question:

Would you support a 40-cents per pack cigarette tax increase if the funds were only used to provide health insurance for Indiana's uninsured, as well as anti-smoking campaigns?

Now, polling info has been released showing that 62% of Hoosiers support a dollar/pack tax - not a quarter - so long as the money goes to socialized health care. From an Indy Star report:

Support for the tax increase crosses partisan lines, the poll showed, with 61 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans and independents favoring a $1 tax increase on cigarettes.

"It's clear that a majority of Hoosiers support increasing the tobacco tax, and we are going to work this session to make sure legislators vote (to do that.) We are committed to this. It is the right thing to do for our youth. It is the right thing to do for Indiana," said Patricia Richards Ells, a spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society.

So, consider it done. The fingers have been stuck into the air and the winds blow for this tax. More Republicans support it than Democrats. Should Libertarians perhaps just give up now? Is it too overwhelmingly clear that Hoosiers, heck Americans, reject the principles that founded this country? Individual responsibility? No thank you. Please, let's have the state look after every aspect of our lives. Please give me minimal comfort and remove the burden of any need to think or plan on my own.

The steady drumbeat of increasing socialism is really depressing to me. The feeling of political helplessness and hopelessness is very great. Thank goodness Ame & I make a decent living that outstrips our tax burden and a good pot of soup. I fled Ohio, giving myself an 8% raise in taxes saved. I fled Marion County and gave myself a huge savings on insurance and COIT taxes. Why must I always look to greener pastures elsewhere?

Scary, Scary, Scary

No, not the ability of the Colts to comeback when all looks hopeless. I'm talking about the number of bills filed by Indiana House Representatives and Senators in this year's full session: 1,420.

This is scary because I agree with Mark Twain's age-old wisdom that nobody's money or liberty are safe when the legislature is in session. Scary because hte legislators cannot possibly read ever word of every bill, as they should. Scary that in the recent past, there were even more bills filed in those sessions. It's scary that the Indy Star printed an article that contained actual news! Is the sky falling?

The only saving grace is that about 3/4 of the bills filed fail to become law. As usual, the overwhelming majority of the bills would make government more intrusive, more expensive, and make government bigger. Let's hope the bi-partisan kumbaya spirit offered by Daniels evaporates immediately and less than 10% become law.

Great Indy Star article. Actual news!

Now We're Cooking!

Another thing not being involved in a campaign has allowed me to do more: cook! I love to cook, and right now, I'm getting into making soups.

It took me being dirt poor to appreciate soups. Big thanks to Steve Wainstead on that count. When we roomed together, both being flat broke, we did some long-range planning. We bought a 50-lb. sack of rice, 10 pounds of pasta, and several cans of Hunts pasta sauce. We would go to the West Side Market in Cleveland late in the afternoon on Saturdays, because you could barter best with the produce merchants near closing. We'd ask for a dozen apples or two dozen green peppers for a dollar. They'd yell that we were taking money out of the mouths of their children. We'd counter that they could take the stuff back with them to rot. We usually got what we wanted.

But, what do you do when you have two pounds of parsnips? Or, five pounds of celery and ten pounds of carrots? It could as easily have rotted in our fridge. Make soup! That was Steve's solution. He made some interesting and delicious soups. Until then, I had never tried to make soup, even though I would cook quite a bit.

So, I carry on- not because I'm broke. I'm cheap, to be sure, but I like soup as healthy comfort food. It's hot and filling!

So, today I am making a sweet potato chowder. I've already made yellow split pea soup twice this winter, and once I cheated by making Hurst's 15-bean soup. I say cheated because that one isn't 100% from scratch. The second pea soup was served to guests who seemed to enjoy it very well.

It's a challenge for me to find soups that the whole family will like. I have to balance Ame and Alex. Ame's a vegetarian, and Alex is rather the carnivore. I'm an omnivore, so I'm easy. I'll probably make a few soups this winter that have two pots going- one vegetarian, and one meat. I have it mind to make a few soups that fit that bill. Tortilla soup is at the top of the list. I guess you can't call it "ox tail soup" without the ox tails, but I want to try to find some kind of substitute.

Ox tail soup was another poor person soup my Mom used to make. It was loaded with barley, and the meat and marrow was from the ox tails. Like ham hocks or chicken wings, ox tails were once throw-away items that you could get for cheap from the butcher or grocery store. They have become popular enough over time to fetch gourmet prices, which is a shame... me being cheap and all.

Glad I Fled Marion County, Part 9

Pity Fred McCarthy, myself, and about 273 people or so who are actually concerned about the finances of Marion County. We were left shaking our heads, or trying to collect to skull fragments after heads exploded, when we learned that the City of Indianapolis is going to shovel a mountain of money at a hotel project.

Indianapolis is the city that has a murder every three days, and a carjacking every 30 hours or so. The crime is so bad that Mayor Peterson is talking about raising taxes, because there isn't enough money to put enough police on the streets, enough courtrooms, or jail space.

And yet, there is $48.5 million lying around to gift to a developer. Astonishing. I am so glad I fled Marion County. From the Indy Star report:

The city of Indianapolis is willing to spend as much as $48.5 million of taxpayer money to help build a mega-hotel of up to 1,000 rooms to service the expanding Indiana Convention Center.

It used to be that Republicans were guilty of giving away public money to developers. At least in other cities that's true, and Democrats cry foul, correctly, on the basis of corporate welfare. Do Indy Democrats give Mayor Peterson a pass because he's a Democrat, or because he's a developer? More from the Star:

Democratic council member, Jackie Nytes, said the city should gain from the hotel deal because it will create jobs and a larger tax base. "Whatever incentives we give them will be paid for by the increased taxes we get," Nytes said.

It just doesn't seem to matter who's in charge. Whether Republicans or Democrats are in charge, the taxpayers are robbed to benefit the politically connected.

Indeed, I was talking with Abdul Hakim-Shabazz the other day about whether or not things will change in Indy. My assertion is that they will not. Marion County's murder rate could increase to a daily occurance, and there would be no appreciable shift in policy. Will the voters of Marion County vote Peterson out? No way. The Democrats wouldn't dream of putting a primary challenger up, because it is more important to the Democratic Party to have 'D' in the Mayor's office than to have safe streets and otherwise sane policy. The voters who are glad that they have a 'D' in the Mayor's office are a majority of Marion County voters, and they too would rather have a 'D' in the office that safe streets, and all sooner than see an 'R' or an 'L' there. Not that the 'R' would make that great a difference either.

So, once again I sing the praises of my good decision to flee Marion County, for the temporarily safer streets of Hamilton County. As we reinvent Marion County north of 96th, I'm sure I will flee here some day too. Until then, I hum contentedly in my suburban home.

Review of Bills

I've been woefully behind in reviewing the bills legislators in my county have penned or backed. Coming soon!

In the meantime, check out Doug Masson's blog for reviews of many Indian House and Senate bills. I don't always agree with Doug's take, but then a) that's what makes the world an interesting place; b) he's been diligently tackling the stinking heap; and c) I haven't found a single human being I agree on everything with. (If you're on that trek, give it up. Utterly pointless.)

State of the State Review

Big thanks to Abdul Hakim-Shabazz for including me in the tri-partisan panel on WXNT 1430-am this evening. I was joined in studio in reviewing Governor Mitch Daniels' "State of the State Address" by the Executive Directors of the other parties- Mike Edmonson from the Dems and Jennifer Hollowell from the GOP. So, here are my thoughts:

This was The Kumbaya Speech. Governor Daniels repeatedly made clear overtures to the Democrats, urging bi-partisanship and cooperation. He could have sounded these themes before the Republicans lost their majority in the Indiana House this past November, but it wasn't necessary then as it is now if he wants his agenda advanced. Interestingly, Democrats had been calling for bi-partisanship, but here Daniels called for it and they played it cool, remaining seated while Republicans gave an ovation on the cooperation tone.

But that's not the substance. For me, it was impossible to miss the idea that Mitch Daniels, alleged arch-conservative, clearly believes in government as the best solution to so many of our problems.

While Dems snipe about 'selling' assets like the Toll Road, Daniels has really privatized very little and eliminated nothing. It's nice that state government is off the hook for a handful of employees on the Toll Road, and potentially at the Hoosier Lottery. It's a good start, but a very short list, and nowhere was he talking of eliminating departments or even cutting budgets.

Daniels could be at the fore of getting government out of the business of education, but instead works to expand the role of the state in calling for full day kindergarten. He could be at the fore of moving Hoosiers towards self-responsibility in the area of health care, but instead reinforces budding socialized medicine by working to impose another tax on cigarettes and earmarking the proceeds for providing care to those who choose to be uninsured. The speech was a complete abdication of the principle of self-responsibility, and typical of today's Republican.

Indeed, the worst thing is the predictable, badly misplaced invocation of Ronald Reagan. While the late President was more a smaller government man rhetorically than in reality, at least he had rhetoric. Daniels actually said that he is eager to"reinvest our bonanza". Both in word and deed, the man is about growing the size, scope, and expense of government. He may balance the budget, thereby claiming the phrase "fiscally responsible", but clearly Mitch Daniels is no "fiscal conservative".

"Investment," curiously enough, is the word Democrats currently use when they want to talk about spending, and Daniels is using their word. It apparently never crossed his mind to cut the budget and taxes, to return the money to the taxpayers.

It's time to retire Mitch's nickname, "The Blade", or at least modify it for some truth in advertising. Make we can call him "The Penkife", or "The Clippers". Many of us had hoped in 2004 that we would see "The Chainsaw" slashing through the budget behind a deep commitment to smaller government. Alas.

So, I expect the new era of cooperation and bi-partisanship to move full steam ahead. Democrats have long been in favor of more government. They have just the man to help them to that end.