Long-Thompson or Schellinger?

Jill is a brilliant woman and pretty conservative for a Democrat. What will be interesting is to see if Daniels tries to break out the abortion issue. She IS pro-choice. He claims to be against abortion rights, but he's done very little to make the anti-choice crowd happy. And then he recently insulted the memory of Ronald Reagan -- infuriating a lot of Republicans.

But what Daniels has done as Governor will make or break him. I'll give him this: he got the most miserable, unpopular stuff out of the way in his first two years. He broke the state employee's union. He dramatically loosened environmental standards in the industrial sector. He instituted draconian cuts in state government services to the counties, while centralizing services in Indianapolis and Marion County. He closed license branches all over the state. He sold the Indiana Toll Road to a combined Italian-Spanish consortium. He's put thousands of state employees out of work. Tens of thousands of higher-paying jobs have left Indiana under Daniels.

And yet -- like I say -- he's been smart about it. He got as much of the bad news out of the way earlier. And in the last two years (particularly the last year) --

Daniels has been showing up around the state, taking credit for almost every public works project that has been financed by the sale of the Toll Road. Huge, expensive signs are erected on site -- well within view of the motoring public -- announced that "Mitch Daniels' Major Moves Initiative Made This Project Possible". Airport runways, highway extensions, boat ramps, whatever -- if the money came from selling the Toll Road to a foreign company, Mitch makes sure we know it. A lot of the people who were pissed about it three years ago have either forgotten...or actually think it wasn't such a bad idea.

But he's been even slicker and smarter when it comes to jobs. Company after company has closed up or moved to Mexico or China under Daniels -- taking away jobs that pay 20 dollars an hour or better. Sometimes much more. This has continued unabated under Daniels. Yet he's claiming to have CREATED thousands of new jobs. Here's the slick part. He has. And he's putting more miles on his state-financed jet than any Governor in history, flying around the state to announce all these wonderful new jobs. He shows up to announce the deal, he comes back when ground is broken (if it's a new facility) and he returns when the ribbon is cut and the business opens. And sometimes, Mitch comes back a year later, just to mark the anniversary and remind us all that he created those jobs.

Nothing wrong with that. It's one of the perks of being Governor. Of course, consider the KINDS of jobs this putz has helped create. Dollar General Store opens a new discount house and creates 40 new part time, minimum-wage jobs. Mitch is there to cut the ribbon. Another firm opens a customer troubleshooting call center with 200 new jobs...some even full time! And these are what Daniels calls "good paying" jobs. Because they pay ten to 12 dollars an hour. Whoopee! Thanks, Mitch. Couldn't have done it without ya.

Now Mitch is telling Indiana media he has created over 22 thousand new Indiana jobs. And thus far, no one is asking him how much those jobs pay, whether they are part time or full time and whether or not those employees have anything resembling benefits or a health plan.

What we do know for certain is that on Daniels' watch, in 2008 alone (never mind the previous three years!) ---

Superior Sample Co. in Ligonier closed in January -- 31 idled

Macy's in Indianapolis laid off 101 workers in March

Colgate-Palmolive in Jeffersonville announced plans to lay off 40 more workers this year (Several hundred had been laid off in the last couple of years.)

Lauth Group Developers in Indianapolis laid off 80 people in January.

Construction on a Chrysler plant near Tipton was suspended indefinitely in January. The plant was supposed to employ 1400 people. Yet Daniels continues to call these "jobs I created".

International Automotive Corp laid off 233 people in Edinburgh in March.

Hurst Manufacturing laid of 55 people in Princeton in March.

General Electric announced in March that it would close its refrigerator plant in Bloomington this year, putting 900 Hoosiers out of work.

Sallie Mae laid off 117 workers in Fishers in January.

Universal Forest closed two Indiana plants (Elkhart and Westville) this year. The exact number to lose their jobs was never disclosed, but it's believed to be close to 100. Some were able to get work at a U.F. plant in Granger that did not shut down.

Harman/Beckner Corporation idled 340 people in Martinsville when its plant closed.

200 people lost their jobs at Superior Essex in Vincennes when they closed that outfit.

Woods Industries announced plans to leave Indiana this summer. 68 Hoosiers out of work.

Monaco Coach, which provided Mitch Daniels with a free RV to drive around the state, laid off 200 workers in Wakarusa earlier this year.

The layoff of 660 Pfizer workers in Terre Haute began in March. All the jobs will be gone by July first.

Schneider Company in Indianapolis cited the state's sluggish economy for forcing the layoff of 30 of its workers.

Raxam Pharma, a plastic packaging plant in West Lafayette closed in March. 39 people lost their jobs.

Clark National Corporation in South Bend closed in March. 152 people out of work.

Skyway West in Fort Wayne laid off 15 people in March.

MetLife closed an Indianapolis office in February and got rid of 89 employees.

The Fuji Film plant in Crawfordsville closed in April and put 129 people in unemployment lines.

Seymour, Indiana's Schenker Logistics closed in May. Bad news for 81 employees.

Three companies in Fort Wayne that supply custom handbag maker Vera Bradley Designs are closing this year. 500 jobs will be lost. One of the firms is co-owned by Patricia Miller, the first Secretary of Commerce under Gov. Daniels. Nice.

Delta Faucet is laying off 95 employees this year in Greensburg.

Mitsubishi Heavy Equipment of Greenwood announced plans to close this year and idle 60 people by mid-September.

Kimball International of Jasper is cutting 75 to 100 jobs this year.

Sturgis Medical in LaGrange is closing. 15 more jobs down the crapper.

Dutch Housing, also in LaGrange, is shutting down. 250 people will be out of work by the end of this month.

By the end of May, JP Morgan Chase in Indianapolis plans to lay off 100 people.

Union Tank Car Incorporated in East Chicago will close by the first of June. 420 jobs gone.

Centerpate Inc. of Indianapolis has served notice that it is closing. 219 people to be laid off.

Effective June 2nd, Harvey Industries of Wabash will start laying off 90 people.

ATA is bankrupt. 2200 Indiana workers are laid off.

Huntington's CFM Corporation has filed notice with the state. It's letting 390 people go in June. More could follow.

Eli Lilly -- the company Daniels used to run -- is laying off 500 people this year.

Visteon Corporation in Bedford is going into mothballs. 577 Hoosiers will be in the unemployment line by the end of July.

Sturgis Iron and Metal is laying off about 175 workers at plants in South Bend and Elkhart this year.

Faurecia Exhaust Systems in Granger is putting 190 people out of work by the end of the summer.

Citation Corporation in Butler is dismissing 200 people by the end of next month.

Heidtman-Stell Products in Crawfordsville is doing away with 71 jobs this summer.

Now kids, that's just from January 1st to May 1st of 2008. Other years under Daniels have been just as bad. And nothing like this has ever been recorded under previous Governors of both parties (Kernan, O'Bannon, Bayh, Orr, Bowen...) Daniels can fly around the state all he wants and say he's creating new jobs. I just hope Hoosiers are smart enough to say with their votes in November, "Sorry Mitch. But hiring a new fry cook at the Burger King, building a new Wal-Mart and opening a chain of payday loan stores just won't cut it. Take your new jobs and stick 'em where the sun don't shine."

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