by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Personal advice like, “Don’t buy a house costing more than three times your annual salary” or “Mortgage payments should be no larger than a quarter of your take home monthly income,” are useful. In these contentious times, wouldn’t it be great if Americans, regardless of political persuasion, could adopt a rule of thumb regarding Federal budget deficits?  The federal government in 2020 spent about $26.3 out of every $100 produced.…

We trust the membership to continue its support so we can publish the quarterly journal, weekly backgrounders and columns. If you have not done so already, please make a tax-exempt donation HERE to register for the spring journal. An individual annual membership is $50 and a corporate membership is $120. The foundation accepts credit cards and PayPal (or personal checks to Indiana Policy Review, PO Box 5166, Fort Wayne, IN 46895).  THE SPRING JOURNAL was commissioned after members expressed concern over the disruption of the rental market…

by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. The South Bend Tribune reported on a horror in Indianapolis that began with an argument that plays out in nearly every American family with a teenager: a battle over staying out too late (“Police: ‘I love you’ were father’s last words.”) It appears that an angry teen, in trouble for leaving the house without permission, fatally shot his mom, dad, two siblings, a pregnant teen and her unborn child. An extreme case, but…

by Leo Morris Profound apologies to my brother. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I wrote of hating him for basking in 70-something sunshine in Texas while hapless Hoosiers were shoveling through several inches of snow and preparing for sub-zero temperatures. Mere days after my outburst, the Lone Star State was slammed with a massive storm of historic proportions. My brother lost power and had to carry water into the house from…

by Richard Moss, M.D. When one ponders the treachery of Republicans in the aftermath of the recent stolen election, one wonders what purpose they serve? It was dormant Republican-controlled state legislatures in many of the “battleground” states, after all, that allowed the changes in election law, perpetrated by scurrilous Democrats and their lawyers that led to the whole debacle in the first place. Some rose up after the fact, but by then it was too late.  Where…

by Mark Franke One thing we geezers, I mean senior citizens, are not so lovingly known for is constantly whining, I mean commenting, about being on a fixed income. Every time the price of gas goes up at the pump or groceries seem to cost more at checkout, an irritating choir of voices is heard about the unfairness of having to live on a fixed income. Back when inflation was a real concern, there was…

Jason Riley’s Please Stop Helping Us is a good introduction to the ways in which government has harmed the poor in general and African-Americans in particular. He describes his broad concerns, but also devotes chapters to many of the most relevant public policies: welfare, crime, minimum wage, K-12 education and Affirmative Action.  Riley puts a lot of blame on Democrats and the Left — whether they’re motivated out of good intentions, paternalism and condescension or cynical political…

by Leo Morris Is U.S. citizenship still worth something? That is such a grimly disheartening question because of where it came from. I did not hear it from the usual “America is awful” crowd, the people who either think the republic always was and always will be an oppressive blight on the face of the Earth or believe the only way it can atone for its sins is for those who have been unfairly treated…

YOU REALIZE NOW that it can be considered seditious, if not an outright admission of domestic terrorism leading to insurrection, to ask whether the 2020 presidential election was “stolen.” Are you allowed, though, to ask whether future elections might be stolen? Good question, for without a thorough forensic examination of this last election we can have no idea how vulnerable we are in future elections. And please know that Indiana is not exempt in this…

I TELL THE STORY A LOT but events keep making it more applicable, the latest being the Indianapolis crime spike and the mayor’s pathetic response. The San Francisco earthquake of 1989 caused 63 deaths, 3,800 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in damage. A film crew happened on a policeman picking his way down a rubble-filled street. He was yelling up to apartment windows, “Nobody’s coming to help you.” It was his warning that quake victims shouldn’t wait, that they should…