Few Final Thoughts on ’25 Session, Braun

I tried. I really did. If you didn’t catch last week’s ramblings, it was all about how we need to be more positive. I believe that. I try. I let a smile be my umbrella . . . and then I look at the Statehouse. Or D.C. Or watch the Indianapolis crime news, uh, I mean TV.

If you missed it and are still smiling, skip the rest of this column. Trust me. Just keep smiling. You’ll feel better.

Still here? Glutton for punishment, huh? OK, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

For those keeping score at home, the Indiana Legislature officially called sine die, which is a  Latin phrase meaning “Ha, ha! We screwed you again!” OK, OK, just kidding. It is a Latin phrase which roughly translates to “We got your money. There’s nothing you can do about it. See you later, suckers!” And with that, Hoosier lawmakers skedaddled out of town.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun presumably flew to his helipad where he had the audacity to release a commercial that says “Promises made, promises kept.” (No, this is serious. I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to.) The announcer, presumably with a straight face, says that the good governor promised to come in and slash property taxes – and delivered “massive property tax cuts.” It goes on to say that Braun and the lockstep Republicans then capped local income taxes “to protect Hoosiers.”

Here’s the deal. Look at your property taxes next year and let me know if you had a “massive” cut. For most of you, the cut you’re getting wouldn’t buy dinner at St. Elmo’s. Granted, St. Elmo’s is a tad pricey (but oh so good!). Even so, shouldn’t something “massive” be more than a high-priced dinner?

Braun’s ad touts “bold leadership.” Bold? The only thing bold Braun has done so far is tell Hoosiers one thing to get elected and then wimped out and made his political buddies (and lobbyists) happy. It’s been said over and over in this space, someone was going to feel the pain of less money. Our government – your government – chose you.

Always does.

Look, let’s be fair – I’m just a newspaper guy with worn-out Weejuns. What do I know about this high-falutin stuff? So don’t listen to me. Listen to the elected Democrats AND Republicans who were less than thrilled with what came out of the Statehouse this year. When you have your own party griping, that kind of says something.

And let’s talk about “protecting” us. What’s the deal with the state capping local income taxes? Sure, I like the idea of a cap on how much money the government takes out of my pocket. But what’s the deal with the state capping local mayors and councils? Isn’t that a decision those mayors and councils should make? If they want to raise or lower local income taxes, let them. I’m pretty sure the voters will decide if it was a good move or not, right?

It’s a little like the cigarette tax. Why is it the government’s job to “protect” my health? Or yours?

Let’s be very honest here. Whether we are talking about Braun, House Speaker Todd Huston, Senate Pro Tem Rodric Bray, Ways & Means Chair Jeff Thompson or any of them who voted for this crap . . . they lie and they spend. They spend and they lie. It’s what they do.

None of them learned a lesson from DOGE. No shameless wasteful spending is going to change. Schools who cried wolf about having to cut teachers (while spending millions on tennis courts, pools, athletic fields and pretty much everything except the English and Math departments) are still going to spend like drunken sailors. Cops, firefighters, teachers and the rest of the hard-working folks on the front lines won’t go away. But neither will the high-priced assistant to the assistant superintendent. Neither will layers and layers of departments that simply don’t exist in private business.

Government spends and the Republicans have turned into the biggest spenders of all. Despite what they say, they are not going to change. Believe that. They will tell you and me they will. They will say whatever they want because they know most of us don’t care enough to run them out of office. They will spend embarrassing amounts of money with no accountability whatsoever. Then they will smile and tell us how they cut spending. They will lie.

Oh, they will argue it’s not a lie. They will tell you that they worked hard and can show you where they actually DECREASED spending. It’s all smoke and mirrors. A proposal to INCREASE spending by a few billion gets changed so spending only INCREASES several million. In their minds that’s a cut. We know it’s not. It’s not even close. It’s dishonest.

Government will still waste our money. Braun promised. Boy did he deliver. And we’re going to pay for it.

Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically on Wednesdays in The Paper. Timmons is the publisher of The Paper and can be contacted at [email protected].