by Craig Ladwig A prominent Indiana Republican stopped by a few days before this session ended to deliver a self-aggrandizing lecture on the difference between holding office and merely “spouting philosophy.” There was a day that some of us here would have conceded the point. Today is not that day. A Republican supermajority made a mess of the General Assembly, and a philosophy-free leadership is to blame. The Statehouse burned this week while people skilled…

by Fred McCarthy We found it interesting that the local Chamber of Commerce, which in theory represents the business community, has volunteered to help a governmental agency more easily increase the tax burden on the business community. It comes as no surprise for in recent years we do not recall the Chamber ever questioning tax increases, or, at least as importantly, asking for a review of current factors which might negate the need for increasing…

by Jason Arp In 2003, Capitol Broadcasting in concert with the city of Durham, North Carolina, put forth an effort to reinvigorate downtown Durham by redeveloping the American Tobacco Company properties there into apartments, retail space and offices. The project, costing far more than its real market value, reportedly ended in bankruptcy. Now we learn there are troubling similarities with a project proposed for Indiana. The  $260-million North Carolina project had roughly 1 million square…

 by Mark Franke Every English school child knows the story about King Canute sitting on the seashore and commanding the tide to stop before wetting his feet. Needless to say, it didn’t, which was the point old Canute wanted to make. He may have been king, but the laws of nature answer only to God. Apocryphal or not, there is something to be learned from this. But not by the political and business leaders who…

by Leo Morris Those who worry about Indiana’s image in more enlightened sections of the country can relax a little now that one black mark on the state’s reputation has been erased: It is no longer one of only four states that do not have an official insect. Hoosier entomologists will no longer have to hang their heads in shame when they go to national conferences. And the even better news is that new state laws don’t…

by Mark Franke When I was a college freshman taking my first political theory class, my professor explained why some government policies are good (meaning popular) and others are scorned. The answer is simple: It depends on whose ox is being gored. Tariffs are exactly that kind of policy. In a free-trade environment struggling domestic industries being undercut in price or otherwise losing market share to foreign imports see their oxen getting readied for the…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Larry Kudlow and Brian Domitrovic (KB) have written JFK and the Reagan Revolution — a helpful history on their dramatic “supply-side” reductions in marginal tax rates. Bringing JFK into this discussion is particularly helpful in dealing with partisans (dramatic tax cuts have not simply been a GOP thing), folks who are focused on income inequality (given the policy’s supposed contributions to income inequality and inequity), and statist ideologues (who prefer higher…

by Mark Franke It’s great to be a retired senior citizen. I have plenty of time to spend on my favorite hobby — grousing. Of course the world has descended to perdition during my lifetime. I’ve got a list of things that have been ruined, eliminated or forgotten by the succeeding generations, all in spite of my efforts to counsel against these appalling developments. Take the barbershop. Who doesn’t fondly recall those trips to the neighborhood barbershop.…

by Leo Morris When the Indiana Supreme Court put the state’s capital punishment pursuits back on track last month, ruling in effect that it could choose whichever drug cocktail it wished for executions, it prompted my sister and me to have a discussion about the death penalty. We discovered that we had arrived at different but similar positions. She acknowledges that there are some crimes so heinous that nothing less than the death penalty seems appropriate,…

by Craig Ladwig An exchange during a meeting this week of an Indiana city council says all you will ever need to know about those public-private “partnerships.” It is between a skeptical councilman and two prospective developers regarding a huge downtown renovation project. The participants make clear that the elements of a “successful” public-private partnership are threefold: Establish a low-ball cost for the project, with taxpayers on the hook for overruns. Offset the “investment” of…