Category: Indiana Writers Group

“I am a man, but I can change. If I have to, I guess . . .” — The Man’s Prayer from the Red Green Show THE SPEAKER of the Indiana House of Representatives this week defended a state legislator who indirectly made fun of participants in the recent Women’s March on Washington. The massive…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Our new president often expresses hostility toward international trade. On this topic, he will find many allies in Congress for there are winners and losers with trade — and trade restrictions. How can we make sense of the relevant economics and politics? It’s easy to underestimate the value of international trade.…

by John Pickerill There was news last week about my county’s economic “development” corporation that may have statewide implication. The mayor and his board of works withdrew all city funding for the corporation. He proposed instead to give elected officials direct control over economic development. Since the county government was already planning to withdraw its…

by Craig Ladwig The cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star wrote a good-hearted explanation over the weekend for why he has had to “unfriend” a family friend, the vice-president elect. One of his points is that those of us in the high calling of journalism cannot allow ourselves to be corrupted by political friendships. “Just don’t mess up,” the cartoonist remembers…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. “Truth hurts no cause that is just.”—Mohatma Gandhi During the holidays, Minnesota’s largest newspaper, the Star Tribune, had an article with the headline “‘All Lives Matter’ ornament at Minnesota store sparks online backlash.” The Star Tribune reported that a shopper took a picture of the ornament, available at Gertens Garden Center,…

LOCAL GOVERNMENT has turned on us. You could watch it happen from a news desk. It was rather sudden actually. One day we were dealing with hard-pressed public servants doing their best in the impossible job of squaring public-policy circles. The next day we were facing mandarins (to use our friend Tom Huston’s characterization), expert at…

by Tom Charles Huston The members of the General Assembly have barely warmed their seats and the fury is already reaching pitched levels on social media. It is over the proposal by the new Republican governor (washed into office by the Trump landslide) and the Republican legislative leadership (known affectionately as the Mandarins) to hike…

by Andrea Neal Although Indiana’s bicentennial celebration is now history, there is a move in the Indiana General Assembly that has the potential to preserve its legacy for generations to come. Sens. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, and Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, would commit Indiana high schools to teaching a one-semester elective course on Indiana history. It would…

by Tom Huston I am disappointed in Donald Trump’s choice of former Sen. Dan Coats to serve as Director of National Intelligence. Senator Coats certainly has the competency to preside over the massive intelligence bureaucracy if the objective of his tenure is simply to maintain an even-keeled equanimity among the tribes which constitute the intelligence…

by John Pickerill As the Indiana General Assembly begins its 2017 session this week, one would assume the Republican-dominated state government would be pushing legislation for a more limited and fiscally responsible government — and one that protects individual liberty, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, and the sanctity of life.…