Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Andrea Neal In 1904, the directors of the U.S. Steel Corporation made a monumental decision for the future of northwest Indiana. After considering locations in Illinois and Pennsylvania, they voted to build a steel plant on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Easy access to water and rail and proximity to Chicago made it…

“I don’t know why we would not explore it (multi-stall, gender-neutral restrooms).” — Purdue’s vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, quoted in the Nov. 18, 2015, Indianapolis Star HE WROTE THE FIRST APPEAL FOR “DIVERSITY” that I ever saw in a mass circulation publication. It was many, many years ago, and was shocking to…

by Tom Huston If you are a reasonably successful member of the professional class – a doctor, lawyer or accountant, a school teacher or other government worker, a nurse or pharmacist, financial consultant, real estate broker or entrepreneur – you have likely not had reason to give any thought to the implications of the chart…

by Craig Ladwig A group of researchers at Ball State University last week released another critical assessments of Tax Increment Financing (TIF). The authors, Dr. Michael Hicks, Dr. Dagney Faulk and Srikant Devaraj, join Tom Heller, writing in the current issue of The Indiana Policy Review, in casting doubt on this enigmatic tax policy. The…

by Andrea Neal They are the libraries that Andrew built. In the early 20th century, Andrew Carnegie funded the establishment of public libraries across the United States in an effort to bring the joy of reading and learning — free of charge — to the masses. To Hoosiers’ great benefit, Indiana received more Carnegie grants…

by Cecil Bohanon Iowa seemed to knock the wind out of Donald Trump’s sails. At the time of this writing it isn’t clear what New Hampshire will do to the campaign of the populist New York billionaire. Here is my case against Trump. Cecil owns a nice piece of wood he would like to have…

by John Pickerill By now everyone has heard something about the crisis in Flint, Michigan. Residents there suddenly have highly contaminated water coming out of their faucets. Their children are sick. The Democratic mayor and the Republican governor are pointing fingers at each other. The media is reporting the charges and counter charges but not…

by Patrick Oetting There is a tendency to focus on the factors that create poverty. The results are often solutions that undermine the dignity of the individual – solutions imposed from a higher authority on people whom we deem “poor.” But when we look at the factors that cause wealth we begin to see individuals…

by Craig Ladwig “New York City’s city council is set to dilute a host of criminal laws including laws against public urination and excessive noise because council members believe too many members of minorities are getting arrested.” — the Jan. 24 Daily Caller The fictional hometown of the Canadian comedian Red Green is Possum Lake,…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. This year will likely be remembered as the year of the populist revolt. Populism is a political philosophy that calls for the government to represent the interests of the ordinary person. Populist candidates typically argue that the current crop of political leaders are beholden to narrow elites at the expense of…