Economy Indiana is doing something right- 410 million budget surplus

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https://www.wibc.com/news/local-news/indianas-largest-budget-surplus-and-whats-be-done-it

https://www.wishtv.com/news/indiana...-wants-to-spend-indianas-410m-budget-surplus/

They went into the year with an actually balanced budget, and then received more in state income tax and corporate tax than they expected. Now they're left with the very nice problem to have of deciding how to spend the extra 410 million, since they also have 2.3 billion is reseveres

Saw this story and thought holy balls is that in stark contrast to other states.

There is a disagreement between the Republican governor who wants to use that extra money to pay in full a large highway project on hwy 31 from Indianapolis to South bend and pay down other debts seeing it as freeing up more money in the years to come since not paying the accruing interest there. Minority house Dems are against this as they see that money going to projects which already have funding allocated for them, and would prefer to use this extra money, as well as some money from the reserves, to fund more projects.
 
Extra cash? They should buy shiny new cars and guns for all the police. maybe some military-surplus tanks, or even build a new prison... Now that's money well spent.
 
MMAisGod said:
I'm convinced Republicans could end global hunger permanently and some of you guys would comment with only criticism.
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That says more about you than me, my friend.

A State is not a business; the goal is not to “turn a profit,” lol.
 
MMAisGod said:
Does it?

My post was about the positive in regards to the funds, and how I think it can be used to better the state. How hopefully it can be channelling future improvement. Yours was a "yea but they still suck so whatever" type of post. Exclusive negativity with no care on how the state can be improved.

What does that say about you?
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My post was not “purely negative” in isolation; it was a reaction to the thread title “Indiana Is Doing Something Right,” which I would characterize as naively simplistic.

I am challenging the assumption that budget surplus= doing things right.

Is the point of having a State to generate a budget surplus??

Also, splitting the difference between “paying down debt” and “existing projects” isn’t exactly “ an “idea” for how to improve a state.
 
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MMAisGod said:
Lol. I'm convinced Republicans could end global hunger permanently and some of you guys would comment with only criticism.
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Uhh, what?

I didn't take this thread as being a pro-Republican one. And luckyshot's post definitely wasn't anti-Republican. It was just pointing out that budget surpluses aren't a great metric for state government performance. Any state could, if it wanted to, run a surplus every year by screwing over its citizens by withholding services, overtaxing everybody, not paying out on contracts, etc. I'm not saying that's what Indiana did, of course, but it goes to show that having a budget surplus on its own isn't all that meaningful.
 
MMAisGod said:
Though you are a smart man. What do you think Indiana can do with the additional amounts to improve the state? Is it enough, is it a start, is it useless? Would it be enough to improve say, healthcare or high crime areas in the state by any drastic amount?

In what ways would you recommend spending occur to improve the state?



Neither would I. But I follow you guys postings. I don't think the initial response would have been "welp screw the surplus brahhh, the state is still buns" if it was an overly blue. I could be wrong on that, but I highly doubt that I am.

Nevertheless, I would also ask you the same questions I just asked Lucky above. How would you suggest allocating these funds for the best results for the state? How much of a potential impact, if any, can it make if utilized correctly?
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It’s a good question, and answering it would take careful analysis. It might take real ideas. I would start by asking people who I consider to have more policy expertise than I do, but off the cuff, I think looking at that 48th in environment and 40th in healthcare might be worthwhile...
 
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Part of what they’re doing right is being located next to Illinois who is fucking up on every level imaginable and shedding it’s economy to regional neighbors
 
MMAisGod said:
Neither would I. But I follow you guys postings. I don't think the initial response would have been "welp screw the surplus brahhh, the state is still buns" if it was an overly blue. I could be wrong on that, but I highly doubt that I am.
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Lucky isn't overly aggressive in his criticism of Republicans, although I certainly am. But I'm also very critical of the Democratic Party, particularly at the state and municipal level (where there isn't so much distance between the parties in terms of good faith governance).

Nevertheless, I would also ask you the same questions I just asked Lucky above. How would you suggest allocating these funds for the best results for the state? How much of a potential impact, if any, can it make if utilized correctly?
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I do not know. Just taking a cursory look at their numbers, it looks the state's unemployment rate is consistently better than average but it consistently falls behind in poverty/wages, innovation, and overall growth. If you're asking if I have any problem with either of the governor or assembly's wishes for the surplus, I do not. I'm assuming the bidding and contracting processes will be the same no matter what, so deciding which path is better would be fact intensive, I imagine.
 
LifeIsNotFair said:
They have states like Iowa and Idaho ahead of California.

<NoneOfMy>
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Do you really want to start comparing deep blue vs. deep red states in quality of life factors? Because I don’t think that’s a road you’re going to want to go down very far...
 
luckyshot said:
Median income 28k
Ranked 40th in healthcare
36th in infrastructure
34th in crime and corrections
48th in environment
36th overall

Yeah, they’re killing it.

But, hey, at least they have that surplus...
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/indiana
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If your rankings come from deficit spending, then those numbers aren't sustainable. Sustainable economy can bring about real growth. Wish the federal government did this
 
luckyshot said:
Do you really want to start comparing deep blue vs. deep red states in quality of life factors? Because I don’t think that’s a road you’re going to want to go down very far...
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Do you want to compare them in debt and how efficiently they’re run..?


‘Quality of life’ is one helluva general way to try and make a comparison bud. It’s also very subjective.
 
AGGAMEMNON66 said:
‘Quality of life’ is one helluva general way to try and make a comparison bud. It’s also very subjective.
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Not always. Some “quality of life factors” are as objective as life and death...

life-expectancy-united-states-4_b.png


LifeIsNotFair said:
You're the one who used that link, not me.

<Fedor23>
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So, using that link, why not list the top ten vs. bottom ten states; since, you wanted to obfuscate by cherry picking.
 
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luckyshot said:
Do you really want to start comparing deep blue vs. deep red states in quality of life factors? Because I don’t think that’s a road you’re going to want to go down very far...
Click to expand...
You're the one who used that link, not me.

<Fedor23>
 
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