No-cost jobs?

I believe it something of a virtue to be willing to change your mind about what candidate you’re voting for this late into the election. That being said, I find it highly likely that come November I will cast my ballot for Barack Obama. Given the liberal skew of our age demographic and the activity I have seen around campus, I doubt I will be alone. \nBut how will our campus vote when it comes to the gubernatorial race? If all the Obama voters out there check their ballot for Jill Long Thompson simply because they see that reassuring (D) by her name, surely she will do well in Monroe County. However, I think if more people on campus do their homework about her, the (R) next to Mitch Daniels’ name will not look as menacing. \nThe biggest source of my doubts about Mrs. Thompson remains her economic policies. She criticizes Mr. Daniels for only focusing on certain parts of Indiana and claims that her plan will bring growth to far-flung rural communities. She wants to categorize all 92 counties in Indiana into different tiers.\nDepending on the tier, businesses within each county would get tax credits for each new job they create with the lower tiers getting a bigger tax credit for each new job. Businesses would also qualify for a tax credit on certain property expenditures. \nIf this sounds to you like a great way to encourage business growth, you should be aware that there are plenty of qualifiers on the tax credits. For example, business must offer health insurance, they must pay above the county average wage (not simply minimum wage), they cannot have had a significant environmental violation within the last five years, and retail businesses or companies that move from one county to another would not be eligible. \nIf by these requirements, you think a fairly large number of businesses wouldn’t make the cut, you’re probably right. The disqualification against businesses that have moved from county to county all but assures that larger businesses will be disqualified. Perhaps the most disappointing part of the whole plan is the claim that because the tax credits go toward new jobs they “won’t cost taxpayers anything.” Apparently other uses for our tax revenue or the fact that we are getting taxed in the first place do not constitute “costs.”\nMitch Daniels has focused on providing incentives for bigger companies – especially those abroad – based on the belief that they could create more jobs. A recent IU report concluded that due to extensive foreign direct investment, Indiana has enjoyed tremendous job growth in recent years, something Mr. Daniels probably deserves a lot of credit for. \nBut if there seems to be evidence that Mr. Daniels has had a successful economic policy, Mrs. Thompson leaves plenty of doubt about whether we would say the same of her in four years.