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Ok, so the state has been collecting more than it spends for a long time and has accumulated $5 billion. How about the state gives some of that back to the people it collected it from? The surplus isn’t the result of brilliant management and flawless financial acumen. If you’re not gonna spend it, give it back.
The nation is poised for strong economic growth. The sky is not constantly falling….the left pushes this narrative and, conservatives, by nature, can be pessimistic.
It’s time for Indiana to make serious property tax relief happen!
Expand school vouchers so the poorest can get the best education available, Medicaid, while needing reform and constant review, should be funded adequately for those who need it.
Lastly, yes…bring new business here and grow this economy!
John, you’re laying out the path to do the exact opposite of growth. We’ve been cutting taxes for years and it’s not helped us do anything but fall further behind.
Here’s an idea – as a state, let’s try what is attracting people to the donut counties since we know it works. People and businesses are voting with their feet, just look at the census numbers.
Spending on schools.
Spending on infrastructure.
Spending on amenities for residents.
…and state support for daycare so low-to-moderate income folks can have safe, stable places for their kids to stay while they earn a living.
+1, Chris. For a supposed pro-life state like Indiana, it’s amazing how little we consider the cost of daycare as part of the equation. Even for higher income couples, it requires the salary of one of them for infant care.
Joe B, I’m sure you’re a financial and economic wizard, but 2026 is shaping up to be a fantastic year economically for the nation!
John, there is zero evidence of that in any of the published economic data.
“Since April, the unemployment rate rose from 4.2% to 4.6% and the number of workers who have had their hours cut to part time for economic reasons rose by almost 800,000. Other labor market measures tell similar stories.
The number of discouraged workers rose by 57% since April. Those who are marginally attached to the labor market saw their numbers rise by 13%, and the share of workers holding multiple jobs rose by 5% since April.
The mix of jobs tells an even harsher truth. Since the Trump tariffs, manufacturing has shed 67,000 jobs and business services that support factories have lost another 76,000 jobs. Transportation and warehousing jobs have slumped by 50,100 workers.
Manufacturing job openings are down 130,000 positions since April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Private sector help wanted advertisements for production workers have sunk by a whopping 27.4% since Liberation Day.
The U.S. is in the early days of a manufacturing contraction that will run through most of 2026, even if the tariffs are lifted today. We should call it the deindustrialization of America.”
You are welcome to retort with data to try to prove your point.
https://commentaries.cberdata.org/1346/a-pretty-bad-way-to-end-the-year
It has surely proven the panic driven $2 a pack cigarette tax last year to cover mismanaged Medicaid spending was unnecessary.
Several of the wildly liberal folks who write pieces for the Indy Star and the IBJ should take note. Everything the more conservative side of the fence pushes for doesn’t create a falling sky. Those who were predicting immediate doom and gloom from tax cuts, tariffs and eliminating fraud just keep pushing their predictions out until the next quarter hoping they will eventually be right.
Indiana is not a pro–life state. Indiana is a pro-birth state. Once the child is born, it’s no longer a concern of the state until a scandal arises at DCS, or juvenile prison, or local youth crime statistics go up. If better day care, better education, better health care might help, that’s not going to be done. Our officials would rather spend the money on in-prison health care and education.
And as of July 2026, any parent can choose a voucher to send their child to any school in the state, without regard to family income. They’ve already decided to pay for universal education.
Yeah, that wildly liberal Mike Hicks of Ball State just has to go…
Or maybe we could listen to Musk, who admitted DOGE was not effective. Or the officials from Carmel, who are cutting signficant amounts of the kinds of things that make Carmel attractive due to property tax cuts. And tarrifs? we won’t know for certain for a few more months, as most importers started importing extra inventory in the spring and summer to avoid the tarrif hit for this year. If the Supreme Lap Poodles don’t overrule the tarrifs, the first major impacts will hit this Spring.
We winning yet, Larry?
Major Kentucky bourbon maker Jim Beam shuttering distillery for 2026
“The move comes as Kentucky’s $9 billion bourbon industry grapples with a glut of whiskey and a slump in demand at home.
In response, the industry has pulled back production by more than 55 million proof-gallons (an industry unit of measurement) or more than 28% through August, the lowest level since 2018.
At the same time, exports have been curtailed to major trading partners; Canada has been boycotting American spirits since March in retaliation for President Trump’s ongoing trade war and U.S. whiskey sales to that country are down by more than 60% through October.
Other Kentucky companies including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey maker Brown-Forman also have announced layoffs or shorter pauses in production earlier in the year.”
https://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article313847580.html?taid=69464e27b137ff0001061353&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Thanks Timothy. You just made my point for me. Hicks and others had the tariffs causing economic doom by mid summer. Then it was gonna kill the economy in the fall. Now you are preaching spring. Tarrifs certainly don’t bring prices down, but they have and will create investment in American industry. Thank goodness we have people looking out for the next several decades and not just the end of the month. If one keeps predicting doom and gloom I guess some day they have to be right. A stopped clock is right twice every day.
Hicks is already right about the tariffs hurting Indiana agriculture exports…why else would there be a bailout package for farmers?
What investment in American industry? We’ve lost 58,000 manufacturing jobs since he took office.
Trump wishes he was as right as a stopped clock. He’s generally only right a couple times each term.
https://reason.com/2025/12/17/trump-said-his-tariffs-would-reduce-the-trade-deficit-and-bring-back-manufacturing-heres-what-the-data-show/
Also, tariffs are a massive tax increase, illegally implemented to boot … and all they’ve done is suckered you into a shift from income taxes to consumption taxes. I hope Trump has to refund every last dime.
Joe B a 101 class on economics.might be helpful.