Neal: Replacing ISTEP
“Lawmakers need to remind themselves why they voted to repeal ISTEP in the first place. One reason was the chronic computer glitches that occurred during its administration, which had nothing to do with the content of the test. The other was to reduce testing time. The legislature should seize the moment and deliver a shorter Read the full article…

Property is Important in Bloomington or Gurgaon
by Craig Ladwig Some Indiana mayors got together last week to congratulate themselves on thinking big, that is, thinking globally. The takeaway from an Indiana University panel discussion was that if municipal government could turn its attention away from the small-mindedness of Main Street, progress would come, that property free of government encumbrance is an Read the full article…

Op-Ed: Indiana Healthcare
by Cmdr. John Pickerill Well, our Indiana Republicans broke another promise. This time it’s their support for repeal and replacement of Obamacare with a free-market solution. The Indiana Republican platform promises, “We believe healthcare decisions should be made by patients, in consultation with their personal physician — not government bureaucrats. We support our Congressional delegation’s Read the full article…

Backgrounder: Immigrant Spending Questions
by T. Norman Van Cott When immigrants, legal or illegal, earn money by working in the United States, what happens to the dollars? One possibility is that they spend them on goods and services sold in the United States, not necessarily on the things that they are producing, but on the wide variety of items Read the full article…

I.U.’s Continuing Search for a Nice Guy Who Finishes First
by Craig Ladwig One of my favorite lines was delivered by the provost at my daughter’s college: “The only thing in life that is exactly as it seems is professional wrestling.” The search for a new Indiana University basketball coach will fall well outside that definition. It is not a search for a winning coach, Read the full article…

Backgrounder: Stretching the Meaning of ‘Economic Development’
by Fred McCarthy The headline on a recent article out of Indianapolis says, “Council Panel OKs $148K to Fund ‘Economic Recovery Coordinator.’” The text tells us that the city council’s Metropolitan and Economic Development Corp. there approved $147,916 (for “salary and some basic administrative costs”) to fund the first year of the three-year contract position. Read the full article…

