Applauding The Mayor's Tax Cut

It's on-line edition, the Indianapolis Star reported today that Mayor Ballard is proposing a slight tax increase next year.

I would agree with the Mayor's comments that the cut, albeit minor, is a move in the right direction. He deserves credit for, at least, cutting the unending increase of taxes under Mayor Peterson's leadership.

Let's hope that Mayor Ballard takes up the cause of the taxpayers he seemed to forget about during his first year. He needs to take on the corporate welfare culture that both Democrat and Republican mayoral administrations have supported at the cost of the taxpayers. Should Ballard choose to go in that populist direction (his only chance for re-election in a county that is 60-40 Democrat) that means better scrutiny of public-private partnerships and saying "No" to corporations like the Pacers who want to renegotiate their deal to get their hands on more taxpayer money. If the Mayor gets a handle on corporate welfare, he'll be able to in the future give tax breaks worth a lot more than $12.

As a side note, I assume Robert Vane is not on board to handle the media yet. No media person worth his salt would release a positive news story for his client on a Friday afternoon. Friday evening news broadcasts have some of the lowest viewership because many people go out on Friday evening. Further the story ends up in Saturday's newspaper, the least read newspaper of the week. It's the negative story you release on Friday afternoon, not the positive one.