Schellinger and Thompson talkin' econ (and politics)...

From Lesley Stedman Weidenbener in the C-J...

With jobs taking an early spotlight in the campaign for governor, Democrat Jim Schellinger introduced an economic-development plan that would let out-of-work Hoosiers take college classes for free and give companies tax credits for environmentally friendly buildings.

Schellinger, who is battling for his party's nomination with former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson in the May 6 primary, said yesterday that his package of 13 proposals would bring thousands of manufacturing jobs back to Indiana.

"We must act now," said Schellinger, an Indianapolis architect and first-time political candidate.

Schellinger also accused Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican who is seeking re-election, of "poor stewardship" of the state's economy and blamed him for losses of manufacturing jobs and high rates of personal bankruptcies.

Mr. S. apparently has a little too much faith in government on these things...

"The reality is personal income dropped again last year and now Hoosiers make 90 cents on the dollar," Thompson said yesterday. "The high school dropout rate is unacceptable and going up."...

Thompson presumably supports the government's monopoly power over education, so I'm not sure why she's bothering to talk about drop-out rates.

Thompson released an economic-development plan earlier this month that would provide small businesses with more health-care options, boost vocational education programs and provide incentives to make high-speed Internet access available statewide. She also proposed to make more economic-development incentives automatic, eliminating what she said is a cumbersome application process that raises roadblocks for job growth.

Not enough details here: More health-care options? Sounds good, but how so? Boost voc ed? Good, given that the state is already heavily subsidizing college ed. Internet? Hmm... Automatic development incentives? Sounds dangerous...