When he was trying to "sell" the Stimulus Package to the nation, President Obama traveled to Elkhart Indiana (a town decimated by the slowdown in the RV industry - their mainstay).  President Obama painted a bleak economic picture of the state of Indiana.

Columnist Cal Thomas penned a great column on the real Indiana  (thanks to several readers for the alert on this one).

"Had he taken the time to visit Indianapolis and met with Republican Governor Mitch Daniels, he would have seen a different picture. Indiana has a $1.3 million surplus and a "rainy day fund" made up of contributions that come from a unique concept these days: government spending less than it receives from taxpayers, without raiding its cash reserves. "

Read the whole thing.

Someone recently pointed out another interesting aspect of the business friendly environment of Indiana versus that of Illinois.

                                                                                                    Illinois                Indiana
    Cost to Form a Limited Liability Company                       $700                   $90
    Cost to Form a corporation                                                  $281                   $90

    Annual Costs to maintain LLC status                                $250                    $11.50
    Annual Costs to maintain Corp. status                              $75                       $11.50

A friend, in Illinois, was looking to create a simply legal entity for holding some real estate.  His (Illinois) attorney recommended that he set up the LLC in the state of Indiana.  In a little over a year, he would save nearly $1,000.

As an Indiana economic development official said, the greatest economic tool their state has is: the state of Illinois.