Could someone try to convince me that this wasn't a plan drawn up by a group of greedy road contractors sitting around the same table with a group of lawyers from Ice Miller?
So, can anyone explain the political logic behind announcing, a mere 48 hours after an election where you personally helped generate several GOP losses, that you want to build a toll road in Central Indiana? (Central Indiana being the only place in the state where you are still liked by slightly more than 50 percent of people.)
Most important to Fort Wayne is that this will provide a more direct route to Greensburg's new Honda plant from northeast Indiana's auto parts manufacturers . . .
One other point likely to be debated is whether the Governor should have made the announcement prior to this week's election.
You have to admit the guy is full of ideas and the timing of this announcement changed the subject from the Democratic takeover to another Daniels' highway makeover. Genius.
Here is a suggestion for the governor that just might win over some of his opponents. Turn this beltway into the Indy Autobahn. I'm talkin' no speed limits. What better way to entice the toll haters to take the toll road than by giving them the opportunity to really open it up.
- Jane Lichtenberg, "Gov. Mitch Daniels demonstrated once again Thursday that he has “the vision thing” down pat."
- Dan Carpenter, "And he'll do it in 10 years. Ask the ghosts of I-69 Past about that one."
- Tim Swarens:
After his party lost the Indiana House on Tuesday, political observers wondered if the governor would roll back the fast-paced agenda he’s pushed for the past two years. Not Mitch.
On Thursday, he unveiled a highway construction and economic development plan for Central Indiana that is nothing if not bold. Next week, he plans to take on welfare reform. Full-day kindergarten is at the top of his legislative agenda. Daniels made it clear Wednesday night at an Indiana Chamber of Commerce banquet (he was honored as the government official of the year) that he has no intention of slowing down.
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Try this. Go to Mapquest and play. Begin by entering Detroit, MI as a starting point and any major Texas City as a destination. Or any city at all in the nation's southwest. Where does that map take you today? Through Indianapolis, where I-69 meets 465. Now expand that map to include Toronto, Canada.
The buzzword for Indiana's future supposedly is logistics . . .
If that's true, then Gov. Mitch Daniels' bold plan to build an outer loop around greater Indianapolis is a stroke of genius . . .
I'm a fields-and-water kind of girl, and far be it from me to recommend anything that is going to destroy farmland, but the truth is: we're dying out here in the boonies. Farming isn't cutting it for a lot of Hoosiers . . .
Winston Churchill once said that there is nothing so exhilarating as to be shot at without result. Having dodged the bullet (or only been lightly grazed) this time, the governor seems eager to attempt the same thing again. Maybe he can pull it off.
RiShawn Biddle says the concept isn't necessarily bad, but the Daniels Administrations plans aren't even half-baked, "But Daniels should have told his aides to do more heavy lifting on the proposal before making it public. "
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