Rolling Boondoggles AS THE USUAL BOOSTERS line up to cut more ribbons for the almost $400-million Indy Blue Line (bus transit) in Indianapolis, our adjunct scholar Randall O’Toole is finishing work on his latest report. O’Toole, a reliable and well-informed downer on public transportation issues, concludes “the more we spend, the fewer people use transit.”  Here is his quote in the blog “Unleash Prosperity”: “Transit has not relieved congestion. It hasn’t reduced greenhouse gas emissions. It hasn’t helped many…

by Mark Franke Supreme Court nominations are great political theater, great, that is, if you enjoy the spectator sport our uncivil civic discourse has become. But there is an educational aspect to this verbal sturm und drang. For example we have become educated on the interpretative methodology of originalism, the methodology used by those who look to the Constitution’s original meaning for understanding. Related to the originalists are the textualists, or maybe they are two sides…

THE LEADERSHIP of my community is excited about a new economic boost that the mayor says is “too good to pass up.” Is it a tax break for local businesses? How about zoning reform, or more starter homes for young families? No? Reducing outdated permit requirements and regulations? None of that. They are excited about a state-sanctioned casino. I am trying to picture the meeting with a prospective investor when he learns that our city’s most…

Keeping the Peace The King’s Peace (pax regis) — Prior to the English Civil War, the common-law concept of maintaining public order.  CRIMINOLOGISTS TELL US that only a sliver of humanity is inherently “criminal,” that is, persons with a pathological disregard for others or their property. In New York City, for instance, just 327 offenders among 8 million citizens were responsible for nearly one-third of the city’s shoplifting arrests.  We can agree that it is important that recidivists, especially the violent…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Noah is repeatedly commended for his righteousness, and then for building the Ark in obedience. Not only does he save his family and pairs of each animal, more broadly he saves “mankind” and the animal kingdom — in what turns out to be a fresh start, a new beginning, another opportunity for man to get it right in terms of dominion, multiplying and fruitfulness. But there are problems with Noah as well. The most obvious…

Corporate Media on the Dock HERE’S AN IDEA: Ask the Indiana Secretary of State to deny incorporation for newspapers owned by out-of-state entities.  Preposterous? Somewhat. The legal hurdles would be daunting. It might be interesting, though, to hear corporate publishers testify under oath how they are functioning mediums for the First Amendment. If allowed as a friend of the court I would enter two pieces of evidence to the contrary.  The first would be the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette’s…

The Star Explores Outstate Indiana THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR  has sent a team of intrepid newswomen to the far corners of the state to learn what we are about out here, heavy on those man-on-the-street interviews of hapless “average” Hoosiers. One dispatch from the hinterland began, “The hills of southern Indiana look different than the manufacturing industry-dotted lakeshore in northwest Indiana or the at-times crowded suburban streets of Indianapolis’ doughnut counties.”  So although a sincere and appreciated effort…

A Social Contract: Health and Human Capital ‘SALUS POPULI suprema lex esto” (Let the health of the people be the supreme law) was Cicero’s test of good government. It is the core social contract of our society, both the justification and the limit of state power. But an adjunct of this foundation, Dr. Berry Keating, will argue in the winter journal that Indiana is failing Cicero’s test. “The goal of the increases in insured coverage and spending has…

Our Cultural Disconnect WITH THE 250th ANNIVERSARY of the Declaration of Independence ahead of us, we asked our assistant, Grok, to review recent polling on what American youth know about this founding document. I leave the results with you to decide whether we have reached a state of total cultural disconnection: The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Civics Knowledge Survey asked the question of ages 18-29, “What does the Declaration of Independence do?” Multiple choice: 1) establishes the U.S.…

Redistricting Disassembled O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mockThe meat it feeds on.” (Othello 3.3.165-167)  THERE IS A WAY to make sense of the Republican rift over redistricting. You start by eliminating all the stated explanations: Which leaves us with what is at the heart of every political story — a hidden agenda. Could it be as simple as that Mike Pence, Eric Holcomb, Mitch Daniels and Rodrick Bray have…