Quote of the Day

"Thousands of bridges, just like this one, are nearing the end of their designed life spans and can become structurally deficient at any time."—James Corless, Director of Transportation for America, commenting on the 18% of bridges in Indiana which have found to be structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

Two weeks ago, Governor Mitch Daniels "ordered the 50-year-old Sherman Minton Bridge closed ... after inspectors found cracks in the steel span. ... Indiana has 2,591 highway bridges. Of those, 146 were rated 'structurally deficient' and 323 earned a 'functionally obsolete' rating, according to December 2010 statistics compiled by the Federal Highway Administration."

Hopefully we can fix them with BOOTSTRAPS!

I emailed this story to Iain, who replied, "Is the one abortion clinic in Indiana accessible only via a series of rickety bridges?" LOLsob forever and ever and ever.

[H/T to Shaker Andrea.]

It's a Good Thing Everything in Indiana Is Perfect, So Our Governor Has Time to Focus on Bullshit

Governor Mitch Daniels, who isn't running for president himself even though he totes could've won yo, is unhappy with the current field of GOP candidates, so he's trying to recruit someone else to run:

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Monday that he's "tried to recruit three or four people" to run for the Republican presidential nomination and criticized the current field of candidates for failing to present a credible plan to address the budget crisis.

"They should campaign to govern, not just win an election," Daniels told The New York Times. "The candidate I could get instantly excited about is someone who is willing to level with the American people and assume they are prepared to listen to the mathematical facts and agree that whatever other disagreements we have aren't as important."

By way of reminder, this guy thinks it's an improvement that NWI Hoosiers now have to pay double state taxes and triple the commuting costs for the privilege of getting to work in Chicago because there are no jobs in Indiana. So beware Mitch Daniels' prowess with the "mathematical facts."

Daniels, a fiscal conservative who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget for President George W. Bush, said he believes the current field of GOP candidates needs to be "more candid and honest" in addressing issues such as entitlement programs. Daniels specifically criticized the back-and-forth between current frontrunners Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney over Social Security, indicating he doesn't see a real plan for reform in the midst of their bickering.

Perry described Social Security as a "Ponzi scheme," a phrase Romney has said indicates Perry wants to abolish rather than reform the entitlement program.

"If there's a problem with 'Ponzi scheme,' it is that it's too frank, not that it's wrong," Daniels said.

LOL. And that pretty much underlines what Mitch Daniels' real criticism is: He's pissed off that none of the current field of candidates are simultaneously extreme in their views and sophisticated in their communications to get that extremism into the Oval Office.

Which, of course, has been the recipe for Daniels' success: He is a radical conservative ideologue with a talent for making radical conservative ideology sound moderate and reasonable. He bills himself as "My Man Mitch," just a simple, accessible guy who wants to be there for he people, despite the fact that he was Bush's budget director and is a cynical corporate shill who has sold off taxpayer-owned properties from public transport to public parks to the highest bidder, while telling Hoosier voters fairy tales about how privatization is good for them.

And he wants the next Republican president to do the same. Unfortunately, the only current candidate who can string a sensible sentence together is Jon Huntsman, who is virtually a liberal compared to the rest of the lot.

Daniels did not disclose the prospective candidates he has urged to get in the race, but said he had been frustrated watching the performance of the current presidential hopefuls.

I'm not sure what the endgame is here, but Daniels is either strategizing to get someone elected who will give him a comfy sinecure in DC once he vacates the Indiana Statehouse, or, more terrifyingly, he's laying the groundwork for a last-minute bid, after all the other candidates have dirtied themselves rolling in the mud for six months. "Well, shucks, I wasn't going to run, but I just didn't see anyone who had the same skills I have."

Daniels is no dummy. He saw Perry get a huge boost after entering a little late, because there are no outstanding candidates, and he surely knows that biding his time means entering a marathon when all the other runners are hitting the stadium for a last lap. The GOP Establishment and conservative media love him; they'll make sure he gets a ton of ink (and money) to make up for "lost" time if he enters late, after everyone else has exhausted every ounce of momentum getting nationally known.

If he really is "reconsidering" running, I've got one word for you: No.

Infographic of the Day

Below is just a screen capture of what is an interactive infographic about national abortion restrictions in the US, by state and type of restriction. Click on the image (or here) to go to the interactive infographic.


Note that my state of residence, Indiana, tops the list.

As I have mentioned previously in comments, I feel decidedly less safe because of the anti-abortion legislation in Indiana, particularly the legislation dealing with "late term" abortions.

I am not desirous of getting pregnant, which makes me concerned about abortion restrictions since I am a sexually active fertile cis woman of childbearing age—but, if I were keen to have a child, I would be even more concerned about carrying a pregnancy to term in a state that values a fetus' life more than mine.

Which underlines one of many inherent flaws in "pro-life" rhetoric and policy: It actively discourages from becoming pregnant any woman who is not willing to potentially risk her life to have a baby.

That is, beyond the usual risks that advanced medicine is now mostly able to contend, in those places where it's allowed.

When I see that colorful display of anti-choice legislation across my state, all I see are barriers to informed, enthusiastic, safe, uncoerced reproduction. I'm certainly not the only one.