by Marilyn Moran-Townsend On April 30, 1789, in the first presidential inaugural address, George Washington said: ‘”The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government are … staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” When our first president spoke of the “Republican model of Government,” he wasn’t talking about a political party but rather what it means to be a democracy. Three…

When Fair Isn’t Fair Enough MULTIPLE WNBA PLAYERS, including several on our Indiana Fever, are at least passively in sympathy with star forward Angel Reese in her conviction to “sit out” if demands for higher pay are not met. Well, why not? They play the same game on the same sized court. The hoop is set at exactly the same 10 feet. They run up and down the court only a few times less per game dibbling…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. In January, Donald Trump became the second U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms in office. Grover Cleveland was the first, serving as our nation’s 22nd and 24th president in 1885-1889 and 1893-1897.  There are notable similarities and differences between the two. Cleveland was born into poverty; Trump into wealth. Cleveland could be a hard drinker; Trump is a teetotaler. Both had provocative social lives and had a quick ascent into politics. Cleveland won…

THE DECISION LAST WEEK by the trustees of Ball State University (BSU) to divert millions of education dollars to one of those public-private ventures is doubly sad.  First, it is discouraging to see one of our public institutions fall into a bad deal. Yes, I understand that it is more fun to be a “developer” looking over blueprints and lunching with bankers than trying to manage a campus-full of pesky, intractable and largely uncooperative students. Still, passable administrators…

by Tim Timmons The good governor of our great state campaigned on a number of issues, but the one that caught my ear – and a number of other Hoosier homeowners – was property tax relief. We don’t need to go over the history. You know it far too well. Property taxes have gone up and up and up. Republican Mike Braun talked a lot about it on the campaign trail. Democrat Jennifer McCormick didn’t.…

by Richard McGowan, Ph.D. A few weeks ago the Indianapolis Star reported that a bill passed out of committee prohibiting trans women from entering women’s collegiate athletic competition. The bill “requires, for purposes of interscholastic athletic events, state educational institutions and certain private postsecondary educational institutions to expressly designate an athletic team or sport as one of the following: 1) a male, men’s, or boys’ team or sport; 2) a female, women’s, or girls’ team or sport. 3) a coeducational or mixed…

by Mark Franke Sometimes, things just don’t make sense. The news has been full of stories of local government taxing districts unhappy with Gov. Mike Braun’s proposal to reduce property taxes for Hoosiers. It seems these units will find it stressful to operate with a reduction in tax revenue, regardless how small. That’s standard operating procedure. No governmental unit will ever gladly embrace a reduction in revenue any more than a family will be happy with…

by Mark Franke Donald Trump and Elon Musk must be accomplishing something, given the howls coming out of the Washington establishment. Could Trump actually be making good on his 2016 promise to drain the swamp? Still, I am not sanguine about his ultimate success. The root problem will still be there no matter how much fiscal mismanagement DOGE finds.  The problem is Congress and its absolute unwillingness to reform itself. It can’t even pass an…

by J.D. Wong Founded in 1971, Amtrak began as an “experiment” to see if passenger trains could make money. Yet, with routes drawn for political gain rather than public need, it has lost money ever since. Instead of throwing good money after bad, Congress should cut Amtrak’s subsidies to zero in the next 180 days. To put things in perspective, Amtrak’s long-haul routes lost $635.1 million in FY2024. Short-haul, state-supported routes didn’t fare any better, losing…

Update: Municipal Grocery Stores A CITY-RUN GROCERY STORE in a food “desert” — it seemed the perfect opportunity for our new mayor to demonstrate in microcosm how her economic-development vision could be realized. It was a pity the opportunity was missed. The grocery, small enough for people to see the workings for themselves, Could have taught us all how government, properly motivated, can suspend the laws of economics, pushing aside capitalist greed to provide savings, convenience and above…