A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Apparently in conjunction with an Associated Press article on the surge of subprime foreclosures, Dan Shaw has a story on foreclosures in Indiana.

Lenders in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan made 8.7 percent of the mortgage loans in the country, and those three states had 19.9 percent of the loans in foreclosure, the study says. Moreover, they had 15 percent of the foreclosures that were started in the first quarter of 2007.

The study cites the loss of manufacturing jobs in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan as an important cause behind the rising numbers. While some of those have been replaced by service jobs, they have not been as plentiful as the number lost. Nor has the pay equaled that found in manufacturing work, the study says.

I forget where I heard it, but someone was talking about “interest-only” mortgages and remarked, “Back in my day, we called that ‘rent.'”

Apparently the Congressional financial reports are out, because, scanning the headlines, I see a bunch of stories about the wealth of the various Congresscritters. This one by Gannett’s Maureen Groppe says that the total wealth of Indiana’s Congressional delegation dropped considerably with the loss of Chris Chocola and Mike Sodrel. Their replacements, Joe Donnelly and Baron Hill, respectively, don’t have anywhere near the wealth. The Bayhs’ considerable wealth stems from Evan’s wife’s position on an array of corporate boards. Dick Lugar’s primary asset is a million dollar home in Virginia.

Sylvia Smith has a similar story that focuses primarily on Evan Bayh and his wife’s aforementioned corporate income. She has another story focusing on Dan Burton and his real estate holdings in four states.

(Via Opening Arguments) Jonathan Clark Smith of Hanover College sheds more light on the origin of the term “Hoosier” in the June edition of the Indiana Magazine of History.

In the article, “Not Southern Scorn but Local Pride: The Origin of the Word Hoosier and Indiana’s River Culture,” Smith reports his discovery of two previously unnoticed references to the term in the newspapers of 1831. Both relate the word specifically to the then-hot political issue of river transportation and canal building. Reviewing other sources — including the first-known use of the term in a February 1831 letter — Smith concludes that Indiana’s nickname originated not as a derisive term for the state’s southern migrants but as an indication of local pride in those who sought to improve the state’s economy. Hoosiers were boatmen who made a living on Indiana’s canals and rivers and who, therefore, supported government-sponsored development of water transportation.

There is already a pretty good Wikipedia entry on the term and its origins.

Bloomberg has a very informative story on the federal deficit. The good news – it’s down almost a third from last year. The bad news – it’s still huge. Spending is still a record highs. Revenues have increased to offset some, but by no means all of that spending.

Military spending so far this fiscal year totaled $349.1 billion compared with $328.3 billion a year earlier. Spending on Medicare totaled $249.2 billion compared with $214.4 billion a year earlier. Spending on Social Security totaled $407.3 billion compared with $385.7 billion a year earlier.

Anybody know a good way to compare those numbers with the same categories of spending from 10 years ago, taking into account inflation, population growth, and the like?

A bit more from the Bloomberg piece:

Since the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, the budget deficit totaled $148.5 billion, down 35 percent from a shortfall of $227 billion a year earlier. For all of this year the shortfall could narrow to $150 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said May 4. That would be the smallest deficit this decade. In fiscal 1998-2001, the Treasury posted yearly budget surpluses.

I wonder where we could be in terms of fiscal stability had the path of optional war in Iraq not been chosen. Couldn’t have hurt things if the money spent in Iraq were applied to the deficit or, even better, to the accumulated national debt.

I got up this morning and scanned the headlines. Among other things, I learned that Noblesville is under a water emergency. So, when I went for a run, it was a little jarring to see several lawns being watered. To be clear, Lafayette is not under a water emergency, but still, as a guy who doesn’t especially like mowing his lawn, it seems odd to use a scarce resource in a way that is sure to create work for yourself. All, so what? Your grass will be green? I’ve been passively trying to kill my grass ever since I became a home owner. Grass is pretty durable stuff – it’ll survive a period of brownness. But, I suppose I’m in the minority on this one. Conservation by way of laziness and aesthetic indifference isn’t really a common Hoosier trait, I don’t suspect.

Just thought I’d flag Andrew Kaduk’s nice take down of Sean Hannity. Apparently Sean is engaging in a bit of a double standard in his rhetoric. Listening to “the People” in opposing the immigration bill = good. Putting one’s finger to the wind and paying attention to opinion polls = bad. Hannity is a blowhard. Who knew?

Andrew has some great imagery here:

I was enjoying the sunshine and the breeze on my way home, and barely noticed (at first) that Sean Hannity was chirping away in the background over the noise of the wind humming through the open windows. Normally I would just change the station, if for no other reason than the fact that it’s difficult to drive with one hand while physically fighting vomit back into my mouth with the other…and Hannity has that effect on me. Frankly, my tolerance for partisan asswipery has grown rather thin in the last year…and Mr. Hannity certainly falls in the overall category of “Partisan Asswipe” with plenty of elbow room.

Notwithstanding the fact that some might put yours truly into the partisan asswipe category, I’ve found that I don’t have so much time for that kind of radio anymore either. For a long time in the distant past, I would routinely listen to Rush Limbaugh or other talk radio blowhards, either to love them or to hate them. Then, more recently, particularly when the Democrats were completely in the wilderness, I would listen to Air America or Ed Schultz. For whatever reason over the past year or so, I have not listened to much of any of these people. My preferences these days go more toward the Bob Edwards Show or various programs on NPR. I don’t know if it’s a sign of aging or what, but I can’t work up as much energy to be an outrage junkie these days. Perhaps with a bit more coffee . . .