by Leo Morris On reading that Indiana lawmakers are considering lowering the compulsory school age from 7 to 5 years old, I immediately went into full fuddy-duddy mode. “I didn’t need to go to any silly kindergarten classes, so I don’t understand why children today need to. I started out in first grade and turned out just fine. Whatever is this world coming to?” But the mistake made by Old Fogies is that we believe the…

“We believe diversity of thought, background, experience and people drive innovation. We promote an environment that is welcoming and conducive to the success of all. It is through our inclusive culture that we can attract the best employees, empower our customers and help our communities achieve great things.” — Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana’s “Commitment and Inclusivity Pledge” (For the use of the membership only.) IT WAS TELLING that a headline writer this week chose the…

by Leo Morris I have a confession. It’s not exactly a guilty pleasure, but something I am a little embarrassed to admit in public. I am hopelessly addicted to Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. If you’ve ever seen one of them, you’ve seen all of them. You can tell 10 minutes in exactly where the movie is going and how it’s going to get there. You can stop watching anytime and go do something else for as…

 by John Gaski, Ph.D. Someone else should have been the one to transmit this message. It should have been done by Roger Goodell, the National Football League commissioner, or perhaps even more appropriately ― for reasons to be disclosed presently ― by former NFL boss Paul Tagliabue. The precipitating issue and provocation is the current protest fetish among NFL players and their chosen vehicle of insulting both the American flag and the national anthem. Regardless of…

by Leo Morris I’m stumped. I’ve been trying for days, ever since checking out the oral arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case now before the Supreme Court, to come up with an analogy that would make the issues involved easier to understand. But there isn’t one. How do you simplify something so glaringly obvious that even the most obtuse among us should be able to comprehend it? Masterpiece owner Jack Phillips refused to design and…

 by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. For those between jobs, nothing puts a damper on Holiday cheer like Aunt Nellie’s inevitable question, “Now where did you say you were working?” Although the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.1 percent approaches full employment, the actual number of people with jobs is two million below its prerecession peak (Edward Lazear, “The Incredible Shrinking Workforce,” The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 8, 2017, A17). Fewer people are at work today in…

by Leo Morris What makes a city great? That was one of the main topics explored at a two-day seminar in Wabash I recently attended put on by the conservative think tank Indiana Policy Review. Many things add to a community’s quality of life, the attendees concluded, one of the principal being that government takes care of its proper business. Government should, first and foremost, fulfill its primary mission of protecting people’s lives and property.…

This morning’s newspaper ran almost 20 paragraphs on our city council’s decision to give a downtown section special tax consideration. The story included testimonial after testimonial to the brilliance of this action, including a picture of smiling beneficiaries in a congratulatory pose. The degree of acclamation was such that the reader was surprised when in the 13th paragraph he learned that two councilmen actually voted against this civic boon. Had they dozed off? Were they…

by Leo Morris “Indiana must rid itself of the electoral cancer of gerrymandering so it can have more competitive legislative districts.” That’s one of those political truisms – like “Not enough people vote, so we must make the process easier” – so unquestioned that hardly anyone ever looks at the other side. And voting rights advocates, public interest groups and editorial pages are building up such pressure for a change that we’re likely to see…

Leo Morris, columnist for The Indiana Policy Review, was named Best Editorial Writer yesterday by the Hoosier State Press Association for work done as the editorial page editor of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. “There were many good entries in this category,” the judge wrote. “(Morris) led the pack with a good package that spoke to transparency and fairness, and closed with a fun piece about that inexplicable desire to be called a Hoosier. Well done.” In October, Morris began writing…