Category: Indiana Writers Group

Good Jobs First — An analysis of more than 4,200 economic-development incentive awards in 14 states including Indiana, finds that — holy crony capitalist! — big businesses were awarded 90 percent of the dollars. These are the same businesses that are least loyal to the local economy, most likely to demand more benefits than they…

AN INSULT TO THE INTELLIGENCE of the taxpayer, that’s the effect of parts of an Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) article, “Fiscally Fit,” about the Pacers’ financial outlook. I’ll give you three quotes: “And the stadium deal the Pacers struck with the city’s Capital Improvement Board (CIB) last year has freed the franchise to make investments it…

“To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.” — Calvin Coolidge THE PUBLIC OPINION POLLS TELL US that next week’s local elections will advance those candidates with the most governmental-political experience. That makes sense, right? We want officials, Republican or Democrat, experienced at governing.…

by John Pickerill Since being elected chairman of a county Republican Party two years ago, I’ve heard a lot of people claim how they’ve been a “registered Republican” for a number of years. That always puzzles me. According to Indiana state law, there’s no such thing as a registered Republican (or Democrat or any other…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. The Wall Street Journal recently polled Republicans and Democratic voters on their ideological identifications. In 1990, the newspaper commissioned a more or less identical poll. The differences between then and now are revealing and explain much about the state of contemporary political discourse. In 1990, 21 percent of all Democrats identified…

Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, by Robert D. Putnam. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015 (386 pages). by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. If you suspect that the quality of American life for least-advantaged youths has become pernicious, and you are among those lamenting the disappearance of a national civic culture, “Our Kids” offers…

by Andrea Neal In 1897, an assistant attorney general made a legal error that cost the Miami Nation of Indiana its federal recognition as a tribe. They’ve been fighting ever since to win it back. “Our people are as upset now as they were 100 years ago,” declares Chief Brian Buchanan. It’s a story that…

“What if I should fall right through the center of the earth and come out the other side, where people walk upside down?” — Alice in Wonderland IF LAST NIGHT’S MAYORAL DEBATE in Indianapolis is portend, we will need to learn to think creatively and upside down like Alice. That will be difficult for feet-on-the-ground Hoosiers,…

by Andrea Neal Yes, you can fight City Hall. That’s the message from citizen activists across Indiana who effectively challenged two seemingly unstoppable government-backed projects that would hand over public resources for private gain. One is a controversial dam and reservoir proposed for the White River at Anderson, a $440-million venture billed as a boon…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. The Indiana State Legislature is contemplating letting local counties and municipalities impose a local tax on restaurant meals. Current rules require a locality that wants to impose such a tax to petition the Legislature for permission to do so. I have never understood why a state legislature should be in charge…