by Mark Franke “Whither thou goest, I will go.” (Ruth 1:16 KJV) At risk of placing myself outside Scripture, I must confess I can’t always buy into this sentiment. Sure, Ruth spoke these words around 3,000 years ago to her mother-in-law. My situation pertains to our current political climate, specifically the Republican and Democrat parties. That must serve to assuage my theological conscience. Where can a classical liberal, one who holds Adam Smith in highest…

“Last week, Biden talked about being tough on crime. This week, the Biden administration announced funds for crack pipe distribution to ‘advance racial equity.’” — Sen. Tom Cotton  $50,000 Indy ‘Peacemakers’ HERE’S THE IDEA: To slow the crime wave in Indianapolis, Mayor Joe Hogsett is repurposing some loose federal dollars to raise an army of 50 “peacemakers.” It is a brilliant plan, but perhaps not in the way you are thinking. These peacemakers join a crime-fighting force of…

A LONGTIME CONTRIBUTOR to the quarterly journal, Jason Arp, is interviewed today on Rob Kendall’s popular Indianapolis talk radio show. Here is a link to the interview. Arp was asked to walk listeners through his new legislative web site, IndianaScorecard.org, an interactive system that allows users to see how legislators rank on 25 or so votes affecting private property. (Trigger warning: Some of you will be surprised at how low your “conservative” legislator scores.) Some tips on how to use the scorecard: …

by Leo Morris Because I am an old man, snow scares me. Sometimes, I think it is downright evil. It weighs down the lines to my house, ready to snap them and plunge me into the cold and dark. If I try to escape, I will find it piled on the porch, ready to grab my feet out from under me, or waiting on the walkway, enticing me to grab a shovel and fall over…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. When I was 7 years old, my parents forced me and my brother to read a book a week during summer vacation. “Forced” is the most accurate word because my Irish twin and I had little or no use for books when so many other activities availed themselves — swimming in the Long Island Sound, riding bikes, playing guns in the woods, tossing a baseball around, climbing trees and just lying around in…

Trash Incompetence AN EARLY STEVE MARTIN skit advised his audience on how to avoid paying taxes on a million dollars. “First, get a million dollars. But what do you say when the tax man asks why you didn’t pay your taxes? Two simple words, two simple words in the English language, ‘I forgot.’” That’s how government handles mistakes. It “forgets” what went wrong and continues as if nothing happened. Here is an example from — where better? — Washington, D.C.…

by Mark Franke My 70 years on this mortal coil have seen changes unimaginable, to be sure. Cell phones, self-driving cars, video conferencing, countless TV channels, etc. This was the stuff of the Jetsons cartoons. Even the robotic maid Rosey is no longer futuristic. Yet I have nothing on my maternal grandmother, who was born in 1890 and lived to be 105. The technological changes she experienced were even more fundamental to everyday life. Imagine…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D US News reported that Cal State University no longer requires the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). That is so the school system can “bolster the momentum building in the higher education community to drop the testing requirement as schools make more concerted efforts to diversify their campuses.”  Following this “momentum,” Indiana schools, public and private, also offer on a temporary basis “test optional” admission protocols, including Butler University, IU, Purdue and all their branch campuses, Notre Dame, Valparaiso, Franklin and…

by Tom Heller Michael Leppert, a columnist and lecturer at Indiana University, recently shed light on the $5 billion in taxes already paid and collected that the state of Indiana has amassed in a budget reserve fund. That is money now bubbling over 12.5 percent of general-fund spending levels and triggering an automatic refund to state taxpayers. Leppert argues that the state should not be in the business of stuffing a piggy bank with our…

by Leo Morris A presidential candidate promises to put a woman on the Supreme Court. Some idealists say it is identity politics at its worst. But pragmatists know it is a naked political strategy, meant to address weakness in a certain segment of the constituency. Ha, ha, got you. I’m talking not about Joe Biden’s pledge that will result in the court’s first black female justice and get him back in the good graces of…