“I have seen Indiana’s future, and it is Haiti.”
So says Fran Quigley, clinical professor of law at the Health and Human Rights Clinic at Indiana University’s School of Law.
And apparently he’s totally serious.
Even more ridiculous? He blames the state’s heartless Republican politicians with their fiscally conservative, pro-business policies in an op-ed in The Palladium-Item newspaper:
Port-au-Prince and the surrounding countryside and villages represent a tea party fantasyland, a magical place with a rock-bottom minimum wage for workers, massive deforestation without consequence, privatized infrastructure and virtually nonexistent public safety or government health care.
In other words, the manifestation of the Indiana Republican agenda. The party’s 2014 platform includes more than a dozen references to government as bogeyman, identified as “intrusive,” an “impediment” and “unsustainable.” In the area of employment, the GOP makes its feelings known in a way that applies just as much to the platform’s views on education and the environment: “The proper role for government in this equation is to get out of the way.”
This is not just rhetoric. The party that holds the governor’s office and substantial majorities in both the House and Senate has applied its anti-government philosophy to some very real decisions. A few months ago, Republican leaders celebrated a $2 billion state surplus, amassed despite reduced tax revenue. “By living within our means, keeping prudent reserves and identifying areas of potential growth, we can continue to make Indiana the fiscal envy of the nation,” state Auditor Suzanne Crouch announced.
It turns out “living within our means” translates into a policy of forced reversions that prevent state agencies from spending their full budgets. Is belt-tightening still a virtue when it means that domestic violence prevention funds go unused, home care resources are not provided to seniors, and environmental protection programs are held back?
Oh, the horror! The horror! State agencies not being able to spend their full budgets?! Environmental protection programs held back?! Why, how do those evil Republicans live with themselves?!
This guy is so far off base it’s hard to even take him seriously. But keep in mind, he’s out there teaching students, filling their heads with this nonsense.
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