Kudos to Indianapolis TV station WTHR Channel 13 News (an NBC affiliate) for doing some real reporting. This story of Republican incompetence, lying, obfuscation, and coziness with business at taxpayer expense should be required viewing for the national media. Reporter Bob Segall shows how to expose the truth, not offer "fair and balanced" reporting that makes unsubstantiated claims equivalent to facts.
Not only does this story show how to report real news, it shows how a typical Bushite, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, runs state government. Daniels, considered by some as a possible GOP 2012 Presidential candidate, was formerly Senior Vice-President for Corporate Strategy and Policy at big pharma giant Eli Lilly before becoming W's Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Daniels is the guy who, in just 29 months as OMB head during Bush's first term, turned a $236 billion annual surplus into a $400 billion deficit.
As governor, Daniels likes to portray himself as a great stimulator of job growth. But, in truth, all he really cares about are photo ops, not real jobs for Hoosiers.
More below the crease.
First, a little background. WTHR has been trying for three months to find out how many of 100,000 new jobs claimed to have been created in the last five years by Daniels have actually been created. Nobody will say. Daniels shows up at photo op after photo op to announce new factories and new jobs. But, often, those new jobs never materialize. By its own investigations, WTHR has proven that at least 40% of those jobs never happened. Daniels is getting angry because a real reporter is asking for information that tax dollars are paying for. Daniels' lapdog, Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) Director Mark Roob, says it's none of the public's business. I can't seem to get the video to embed, so please watch the video or read the article at one of the links below:
Video Link Here
Article Link Here
Segall does brilliant reporting in building his story. Most importantly, he actually refutes Republican lies time after time. Daniels says numbers are available from the IEDC. They're not. Roob claims these numbers are "trade secrets." They're not in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, or Minnesota. Roob claims the secrecy is a "competitive weapon" that gives Indiana an advantage in attracting jobs. Segall offers numbers that show that Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan have all attracted more business. The IEDC supposedly audits itself. Segall interviews a former manager at Indiana's Office of Management and Budget who says:
"IEDC was one of those programs we consistently laughed at because we knew that their numbers were ‘wave their magic wand and, poof, up they came,'" he said. "No one in their right mind would have believed the numbers coming out of IEDC because these state agencies would just submit whatever numbers they wanted to: real, fake...who knew? We didn't audit it, and whenever we'd suggest an independent auditing process, it was always shot down."
Finally, WTHR says Republican Indiana officials can't get their stories straight and that they're lies regardless:
Roob told 13 Investigates 87% of jobs committed to Indiana were on track. A few days later, the governor (who is chairman of the IEDC board of directors) said the number was 92%. WTHR's statewide investigation found the number is likely below 60%.
And in one of the most blatant statements of Republican neofeudalistic philosophy I have ever heard, Roob says:
"People in Indiana -- the businesses of Indiana -- feel very strongly that their relationship with state government is between state government and that company."
Roob actually thinks that:
People in Indiana = Businesses of Indiana
The GOP actually believes that what goes on between businesses of Indiana and state government is none of John Q. Taxpayer's business. Seriously. Roob actually says:
"We don't share [net job growth numbers] with the public. We don't release it to the news media. That's confidential information."
Why? Because business wants it that way, that's why. And because Daniels cares more about publicity stunts than he does about the lives and livelihoods of the people of Indiana.
After watching the video and reading the article, the truth is out there. Daniels' and Roob's lies are exposed. This is actual news reporting.
Are you watching, Wolf and company?
(Posted in revised form at Blue Indiana)