Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Craig Ladwig The times are too serious to take potshots at politicians for being politicians. But the constant and empty promises to “fight” for us on issues ranging from ethanol pumps to unisex bathrooms to mortgage rates beg comment. And when it comes to an issue in which the allusion of fighting is apt…

“A week after the Subaru incentives were announced in an Indiana Economic Development Council news release, the agency admits it has not sent the $7.9 million incentive package to the board for a vote, and that probably won’t happen for several more months.” — Bob Segal of WTHR By Tom Huston Back before Hoosier Republicans…

THE INDIANAPOLIS print media occasionally gives us a glimpse into the positions of the two mayoral candidates by relating “interviews” with, or statements by, the two men. Frankly, I’ve been disappointed by what I’ve read so far. The media is humbly asked to bring more subjects into the public conversation. Specifically, I would like to…

by Andrea Neal Although his name does not show up on lists of greatest presidents, Benjamin Harrison did more during his one term in office than some better-known presidents accomplished in two. Consider the following: He expanded the U.S. Navy to both coasts and strengthened its fleet, which had no working battleships when he took…

by Fred McCarthy Nearly two months ago, I posted an essay under the title “An Explanation, Please?” It concerned a morning paper story headlined, “Brewer, Hogsett Need to Share Plans” that described a meeting of the two mayoral candidates with the paper’s editorial board. The author was disappointed in a lack of specifics in campaigns.…

“It’s said of financial crises that they take much longer to arrive than you think and unfold more rapidly than you ever believed possible.” — Aaron Renn in the Sept. 14, 2015, City Journal IN AT LEAST ONE of the seats on a typical Indiana city council sits a civic hero, a man or woman who…

“Our country’s worst enemy could not have designed a more effective system for keeping smart, qualified people out of public-school teaching and administration.” — Economist John Wenders, writing on the subject of public-sector collective bargaining by Craig Ladwig Reading news reports this week of “dueling studies” on the teacher shortage, you might assume that a…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. Yes, he is crass. He is a protectionist, a mercantilist and anti-immigration. The GOP political class/intelligentsia uniformly condemns him. The Dem political class/intelligentsia love to hate him because they figure they can “tar” their ultimate opponent with his opprobrium. When he was at 15 percent — an amusing anomaly; at 20…

by Andrea Neal In an era of declining church membership for most Christian denominations, one group of believers is experiencing healthy, unprecedented growth. In 2014, the estimated Amish population in Indiana exceeded 50,000, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. That’s bigger than the cities of Columbus, Jeffersonville or…

THE FOUNDATION asked John Kessler, who teaches economics at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, to design a chart that would help the membership determine whether a public expenditure before their city council was economically sound. No, that’s not exactly true. Our impetus came from a couple of decades of frustration listening to self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives slipping…