The Fiction of the Legislature
Some say the decline of Indiana politics began with air-conditioned meeting rooms and multi-issue legislation. You should doubt that; history is rarely so subtle. Rulers, especially, find it comforting to think that way. It implies there is time for a gentle correction of course. They tell us we need only be patient for one or Read the full article…
Decades of Hoosier School Choice Threatened by Unions
For release Nov. 30 and thereafter (613 words) For decades, Indiana’s school-choice programs have helped send Hoosier students to the colleges of their choice and provided school books and bus transportation for children in private schools. Never before have programs like these been challenged on constitutional grounds. Until now. In an attempt to maintain their Read the full article…
Daniels’ Legacy: Infrastructure
For release Nov. 30 and thereafter (650 words) As a reporter covering the Indiana Statehouse 30 years ago, I followed a hard and fast style rule imposed by my employer: Don’t ever use the term infrastructure. Instead use words that actually mean something to readers like “highways,” “bridges” or “overpasses.” When it comes to assessing Read the full article…
Lunch Downtown: Chewing on the Big Lie
by Ryan Cummins I had lunch downtown recently. The experience always gets me to evaluating my local government’s efforts in “economic development.” Like nearly every Indiana city, we back up our nostalgia for the downtown area with millions of dollars taken from taxpayers all over the city, county, state and nation. The truth is our Read the full article…
The Irrelevant Dramatics of the ‘Super Committee’
“Lord, make me chaste, but not yet.” — St. Augustine I know a guy who’s 130 pounds overweight, slowly dying from atherosclerosis and diabetes. He’s been living a slouchy lifestyle for the past 10 years: fast food every night, hasn’t seen the inside of a gym since high school, smokes a pack a day. His Read the full article…
Some Food for Thought on Thanksgiving Giving
Editors: This week’s column is set for immediate release to accommodate holiday publishing schedules (527 words) Earlier this year I received an email from a charitable organization. It began in bold typeface with this: “Hunger and Poverty continue to plague America . . .” The missive then referred to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Read the full article…
