Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Indiana’s Common Construction Wage Law is typically referred to as a “prevailing-wage” law. Such laws are a state’s version of the federal Davis-Bacon laws dating back to the 1930s that provided minimum wages on public-sector construction. In Indiana this year, there are measures seeking to repeal or weaken the state’s prevailing-wage…

by Ryan Cummins A decade ago, I wrote an editorial titled “A Fair Field with no Favors” to point out the tremendous costs that are shifted to taxpayers when a city engages in what we commonly know as corporate welfare. It struck me as I prepared to testify before a legislative committee this week that…

A LONG TIME AGO, even before Madonna was born, post-modern journalism began to take recognizable shape. It featured a spectacularly creative news matrix, one that put a premium on good looks, a dramatic television news set, graphic magic and emotional presentation. The initial effect was encouraging. The newsrooms filled with good-looking and glib young people.…

by Stephen M. King, Ph.D. A dismal future for traditional marriage was predicted by two events in 1996. That future has arrived. First, Robert Bork, a federal judge and former Solicitor General, wrote “Slouching Towards Gomorrah.” Therein he all but predicted that American culture and society would continue to slide into moral oblivion, causing the collapse…

by Cecil Bohanon There are at least two theories of regulation, both that apply to the ongoing debate over the sale of liquor on Sundays. One is the public-interest theory of regulation. In its story, legislators strive to craft just and beneficent regulations that balance legitimate concerns. Legislators are like a good parent: They divvy…

by Tom Charles Huston In this country, people who read the news on television are called “anchors.” In Great Britain, they are called “presenters.” The latter term strikes me as more honestly descriptive. An assortment of editors and producers put together what they have concluded constitutes today’s news, and key up the teleprompter. Dan Rather,…

by Andrea Neal Ask historians to name Indiana’s greatest governor, and most will answer Oliver P. Morton. He was the first governor born on Hoosier soil. He played a critical role during the Civil War — he backed the policies of President Abraham Lincoln and supplied troops for the Union Army. He was driven more…

By Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Government is supposed to help individuals with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Using this metric, let’s see how our government often struggles and how people are damaged as a result, especially the most vulnerable in society. We’ll look at a host of economic and social policies, chronologically — from…

Editors: An Indiana businesswoman, a member of this foundation, addresses cultural and political viewpoints on immigration from the perspective of an employer for a quarter century of both native-born and foreign-born workers. She writes under a pen name. by Jo March One often hears that we are “a nation of immigrants built upon the rule of…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. A friend of mine at church brought me a Muncie Star newspaper dated August 21, 1958, that she found when cleaning at home. She pointed to a front-page headline: “New Outburst of Terrorism in Lebanon;” my last column was about Middle East terrorism. Then as now the region is politically unstable…