Why the time zone issue matters to every Hoosier

DANIEL J. PARKER

MICHIANA POINT OF VIEW

People have read a lot in recent months about Gov. Mitch Daniels' time zone debacle, and his actions recently sum up what can only be described as a complete breach of trust on a critical issue that affects every Hoosier.

In 2003 and 2004, the governor campaigned on shifting the entire state to Central time. Once elected, he strong-armed the Indiana General Assembly into passing daylight-saving time, but he then backed away from the issue entirely, saying local governments should petition the federal government to be placed in a specific time zone.


The U.S. Department of Transportation officials made their recommendations and held regional public hearings on the time zone issue. Daniels did not attend the hearings, but he sent a letter (Tribune, Nov. 30) to the DOT requesting that at least one federal recommendation be overruled, despite a clause in state law requiring him to support the local petitions.

When asked about his time zone flip-flop, the governor recently told reporters that he had never supported Central time and attributed the campaign discrepancy to being a rookie candidate who "committed the sin of straight answers."

This is a complicated issue, but the governor has done his best to make it even more complicated. People might be asking what this means and why it matters.

It matters to all Hoosiers because it is a matter of trust in the governor.

Daniels promised voters many things during his campaign, including a unified statewide time zone. He promised to promote and fund education. He promised to help homeowners deal with skyrocketing property taxes. He promised not to send state contracts out of Indiana. He promised to recruit and retain companies that provide high-paying jobs.

Unfortunately for Hoosiers, the governor has either backed away from or turned his back on each of those promises.

The budget Daniels signed earlier this year flat-lined education spending and raised property taxes by reducing a tax credit for homeowners.

To date, his administration has sent more than half a billion dollars in state contracts to companies located outside of Indiana, and the governor has made privatizing government services and agencies a top priority, effectively handing hundreds of state jobs to profit-driven, out-of-state contractors.

Instead of recruiting high- paying jobs, Daniels has pushed for automatic tax breaks for businesses to create low-wage jobs and supported executives who want to slash workers' salaries while they continue to rake in large bonuses.

All of these broken promises point to one question: Can we trust this governor?

Being a trusted leader means following through on your promises and accepting the consequences of your actions. Daniels has not shown an inclination to do either -- he simply blames others or his predecessors.

The governor has shown that his values are closely aligned with Washington, D.C., political insiders and foreign investors, not with the average Hoosiers he convinced to vote for him last year.

Daniels has pushed a reckless agenda in his first 10 months in office, and we have no reason to expect anything different in the years to come. This isn't a matter of politics; it's a matter of trust.

Daniel J. Parker is chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party. He lives in Marion County.