‘WHEN THE RENT isn’t paid, there’s trouble,” is a line from a Hemingway novel I remember for some reason. Perhaps it is because paying the rent is where the rubber meets the road in our economic system — an ugly absolute unlike the softer irritants of inflation, interest rates, Internet fees, etc. As such, it is the bane of those who imagine they can change the world with a sweep of the legislative hand. That was the story of…

by Mark Franke What a disappointment. I hardly expected Joe Biden suddenly to become a classical liberal dedicated to recognizing natural rights and advancing individual liberty. I did hope, Pollyanna like, that he actually meant what he said in his inaugural address: “Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together. Uniting our people. And uniting our nation.” He differentiated himself during the primaries as a more reasonable version of…

“You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality.” — Ayn Rand Running Hospitals by Decree THE STATEHOUSE LEADERSHIP has written a letter — sternly worded, mind you —warning Indiana’s health providers, among the most powerful lobbies, that if they don’t lower hospital and medical costs  . . . well, something will happen. Senate President Rodric Bray and Speaker of the House Todd Huston told 20 healthcare executive to work together to match Indiana’s health care…

by Leo Morris A criminal whose guilt is obvious gets off on a technicality, and the great debate begins. You’ve undoubtedly heard it, in real life on the news or in detective fiction in print or on the screen. Lock the criminal away despite the technicality, says one side. It’s a perversion of justice to let the guilty escape punishment just because police didn’t dot every “i” and cross every “t” in pursuit of, say,…

by Jason Arp When I was a kid in the late 1970s, we had one telephone in our house. It was a drab green color and had a very long chord to allot the user some freedom to roam into the living room or dining room if they were adventurous. We could only talk to grandparents a state away for just a few seconds because the call was so expensive for a blue-collar family. Our aunt in Montana got to…

by Mark Franke I have given up all hope of returning to the day of e pluribus unum. I certainly don’t expect anyone in Washington D.C. or the New York City media center to repent of their divisive ways and take on this noble cause. So what? They don’t dictate how I live my life or the way I interact with other people. Let them continue to be mired in Donald Trump’s undrained swamp, rewriting history to…

Testing the Boundaries of ‘Extremism’ “Our mission is to marshal the best thought on governmental, economic and educational issues at the state and municipal levels.” — the Indiana Policy Review Foundation A COLUMNIST at the Indianapolis Star is said to have privately described members of our foundation as “extremists.” Fair enough. In our 33 years we have never quarreled with how others might label us.  That said, a review of the Gannett Company’s positions as expressed in editorials and…

by Leo Morris It’s an issue that has long engaged my attention: Where do we draw the line between autonomy and subjugation, between when we should be left alone and when we must be made to conform for the common good? I have strong libertarian instincts, so I have always argued for the minimum government necessary to protect us against threats to our lives and property, and that otherwise we should be free to pursue…

by John Gaski, Ph.D. So the Democrats are playing the race card against the GOP on the Senate filibuster rule, calling Republicans “racist” if they oppose the old custom’s ad hoc elimination. What a surprise. The Democrats play the race card against everyone and everything that stand in their way on any issue, no matter how hypocritical it is for them, i.e., the political group with the most racist record of any major party in American history. Recall…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. President Daniels: I hope the school year began well and stays that way. My friend, a proud Boilermaker, shares your missives with me, including your recent “Open Letter to the People of Purdue,” in which you lament the imbalance of men and women on campus. I taught for over 40 years in higher education. My last stop, of 24 years, was Butler University, where I was an instructor (I dropped out…