As one who entered the digital age with a Commodore 64 (pictured, for those born after the Reagan administration), I have seen “the Google” and “the Yahoo” shrink our world. And now "the Internet" accesses remote parts of the globe. Looking out my backdoor (sorry, Mr. Fogerty) I visit the Great Wall of China, Piccadilly Circus, outer space, even elephants in a band. The Indiana General Assembly meets in Indianapolis during the winter. Most of their work is done during the day. It is impractical for most citizens to attend committee meetings or general sessions. The Web changes this. Participatory democracy, for the first time in history, is set-up to allow full participation. Web cameras hang in the House and Senate chambers, five committee hearing rooms and portions of the court system. The Internet has literalized the saying, "at your finger tips."

I view any bills being introduced in the General Assembly. I easily find my representative and senator’s contact information. I send emails expressing my views. I watch elected officials discuss and vote on issues affecting my daily life. I watched the Governor’s State of the State without any overlapping commentary. I read blogs and Twitter comments from a diversity of view points. I draw my own conclusions.

The key word in that paragraph was "I."  No longer "they." Overseeing IndianaNet® allows me to witness how digitizing democracy increases our ability to shape and own the future. The old beige desktop has given way to pocket-sized back doors.

I thought this argument, forgive the pun, was dead and buried. The issue: an estate tax that penalizes business owners, investors and all survivors that must pay Uncle Sam for the success and monies earned by a person before they passed away.

The so-called death tax was part of the 2001 reform package that gradually reduced its impact. Elimination was scheduled for 2010 (although it was never made permanent and was ultimately scheduled to return a year later). But at a time when we should be looking at maintaining the elimination, the Obama administration and Congress are indicating a high priority in keeping the tax in place (with no removal in 2010).

Supporters of that plan say there will be little impact on the economy since they intend to keep the tax at its current level. Are they serious? Who do you want to have that money? The government or Americans who would be in position to increase private sector spending and investment.

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council outlines the case. Read it and, if this plays out as projected, weep.

Two states in the upper Midwest — Minnesota and Wisconsin — are hoping they’ve found a way to endure the tough times by forging a partnership, sort of like Tango & Cash, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc.: 

The governors said they hope to save "tens of millions of dollars" in the coming years by cooperating on everything from buying road salt and prison food to running state telephone call centers.

"This is an opportunity for neighbors to help each other during a very difficult economy," Doyle said at the Madison signing of the agreement, adding later, "I am prepared to think very big about this."
 
Doyle and Pawlenty outlined the measures in St. Paul and Madison to help cope with the deficits facing both states.

Wisconsin has a projected budget shortfall of $5.4 billion and Minnesota faces a gap of $4.8 billion, both by the end of their upcoming two-year budgets.

Experts praised the proposal but cautioned it could provide only modest help at best in fixing the current budget gaps.

The effectiveness of such a pact is yet to be seen, but it’s potentially a practical and encouraging solution for some problems nonetheless. Perhaps Indiana’s governor may one day find it useful to forge a partnership with our neighboring … governor … in … Illinois … ooooohh, riiiiiight. Perhaps not.

Advocates of charter schools should be encouraged by a recent report by the University of Indianapolis that featured some enlightening findings. Inside Indiana Business lists the highlights:

• Charter school students differ from traditional school students in critical ways: They enter charter schools at an academic disadvantage relative to their traditional school counterparts, as evidenced by their entering scores on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP), and they are more likely to be members of minority groups and low-income households.

• Charter schools have the same attendance and stability rates as traditional schools.

• Students who had been enrolled at least two years in their charter school showed significantly greater academic growth when compared to a controlled sample of students from traditional Indiana schools that were similar in demographic characteristics and baseline academic achievement. Charter school students showed 22% more growth in reading, 18% more growth in math and 25% more growth in language usage.

• The growth in reading and language usage for charter students exceeded national growth averages. Math growth was on a par with the national average.

• Cost per unit of academic growth was lower in charter schools

The study was commissioned by Indiana Black Expo, the Indianapolis Urban League and the DeHaan Family Foundation.

America’s new likely Energy Secretary, nominee Steven Chu, is on record saying coal is his "worst nightmare." Well, he obviously hasn’t been locked in solitary with a stereo looping that migraine-inducing terror of a song, "Bad Day." That is my worst nightmare, and I’d contend it’s far worse than anything coal will ever provide.

But Chu’s (and Obama’s) aversion to coal is hardly music to the ears of the nation’s coal producers, namely the top five producing states (Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Texas). This is likely why the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council has a different take on coal:

For good measure, coal is affordable. On December 27, the New York Times ran a fascinating story titled "Burning Coal at Home Is Making a Comeback". While still a tiny fraction of the market, the story explained how the number of homes using coal as a heating fuel has risen. Coal consumption as a heating fuel, it was reported, hit a low in 2006, then rose by 7 percent in 2007 and more than 10 percent during the first eight months of 2008.

Opportunities have expanded for some small businesses. For example: "Dean Lehman, the plant manager for Hitzer Inc., a family-owned business in Berne, Ind., that makes smaller, indoor coal stoves, said his stoves were on back order until March. And Jeffery Gliem, the director of operations at the Reading Stove Company and its parent, Reading Anthracite, in Pottsville, Pa., which supplies coal and stoves to 15 states in the Northeast and Midwest, said the uptick in interest was the largest he had seen in 30 years. ‘In your typical year you might have five, six, seven thousand stoves being sold,’ Mr. Gliem said. ‘This year it was probably double that.’"

To get an idea on the cost differential, consider the following: "Coals vary in quality, but on average, a ton of coal contains about as much potential heat as 146 gallons of heating oil or 20,000 cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Energy Information Administration. A ton of anthracite, a particularly high grade of coal, can cost as little as $120 near mines in Pennsylvania. The equivalent amount of heating oil would cost roughly $380, based on the most recent prices in the state – and over $470 using prices from December 2007. An equivalent amount of natural gas would cost about $480 at current prices." 

UPDATE: The Heritage Foundation just released this series of questions for Chu, as well.

Sometimes my mind works like the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” game, in which all actors can be linked to Kevin Bacon through their films. One topic prompts me to explore another and so on until somehow it makes perfect sense to compare two seemingly unrelated things like ice cream and my beloved 1980s drama, "21 Jump Street," starring Johnny Depp.

Anyway, while embarking on one of my infamous home renovation projects (let’s just say I never want to hear the word “wallpaper” again), I started thinking about a renovation project involving Fort Wayne-based Prairie Quest Consulting (PQC). The firm – which offers procurement and acquisition services to federal, state, local and commercial customers – is relocating to a larger office near downtown Fort Wayne to accommodate new information technology equipment and a growing workforce.

Renovation of the existing space is slated for completion by June and plans are underway to add three full and part-time employees to the staff. Among information technology upgrades will be a new network server, phone system and facility security system.

PQC also operates an Indianapolis office.

In the current BizVoice®, president and CEO Stacey Smith describes (as part of a community focus on Fort Wayne) the company’s contributions to the state’s defense sector.

For the last four years, the Indiana CPA Society has surveyed its members. And, probably to no one’s surprise, they’re more pessimistic than the last two times around. The results of the 2009 Business Outlook Survey include this summary:

Optimism scores declined for the second straight year of the survey, by 36 percent for the U.S. economy since 2007 and by 16 percent for the Indiana economy. On average, Indiana CFOs’ and CPA firm managing partners’ outlooks are pessimistic about the U.S. economy for the next six months, slightly pessimistic toward Indiana, neutral about their industries and moderately positive about their firms.

Specific concerns identified (in order) were:

• Governmental regulations affecting organizations
• Cost or availability of credit (rising interest rates)
• Employee and benefit costs
• Materials, supplies or equipment costs
• Energy/fuel costs 

Asked about the economic recovery time period, respondents predicted an average of nine or ten months, with half predicting more than a year. 

Let’s hope they have overestimated that last one.