Indiana Writers Group column for Feb. 6 and thereafter ( 597 words) by Andrew Horning I’m proud to have had something to do with the July 4 “property-tax protest” on the lawn of the Indiana Governor’s Mansion. Yet I’m sorry that most of us have made too much of property tax itself, and far too little of the real issue. The real issue is much more basic, critical, unequivocal and urgent: Our government is ungoverned,…

Indiana Writers Group column for Jan. 30 and thereafter (720 words) by Andrea Neal INDIANAPOLIS – Lawmakers are getting needless cold feet over a plan to let taxpayers decide the fate of school construction jobs. Indiana House Democrats have watered down a bill that would require a referendum on bond issues for expensive public building projects. They don’t trust the people. Their amendment exempted from public vote any construction directly related to education, such as…

Indiana Writers Group column for Jan. 23 and thereafter by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Here is a point to keep in mind as the property-tax debate approaches conclusion: Applying a number of significant changes to a complex policy may or may not have the desired outcomes. This General Assembly, then, is debating a tax gamble as much as a tax policy. Given the tax caps reiterated last week by Gov. Mitch Daniels in his state-of-the-state message,…

Indiana Writers Group column for release Jan. 16 and thereafter (710 words) by Andrea Neal You’ve got to give lawmakers credit for attacking property tax reform with a vengeance in the opening days of the 2008 General Assembly. But there’s political danger ahead if the debate turns into an all-or-nothing proposition. On one side: the abolitionists. These folks want to ride the wave of anti-tax sentiment that erupted across the state after the last reassessment.…

Indiana Writers Group column for release Jan. 9 and thereafter (711 words) by Dr. JEFF ABBOTT The sun had not set the day that the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform issued its report “Streamlining Local Government” before the education special-interest groups voiced their disapproval.The report’s co-chairmen, former Indiana Gov. Joseph Kernan and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard, observed that: “Indiana is a place where the taxpayers support lots and lots of…

Indiana Writers Group column for release Jan. 2 and thereafter (720 words) by ANDREA NEAL It sounds like a recipe for legislative disaster: Attempt to resolve a property tax crisis in a short session during an election year. In normal times, those three ingredients might deter the bravest of souls from taking action. But these are not normal times and lawmakers from both parties are racing to prove their commitment to tax reform. The legislative…

For release Dec. 19 and thereafter (767 words) by DR. ERIC SCHANSBERG We observed a dubious centennial this year. In 1907, Indiana became the first state in America to pass a eugenics law. Eugenics can be defined as the study of the hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled, selective breeding. Because of what we now know about genetics, eugenics turns out to be a pseudo-science loaded with philosophical and ethical baggage. Sir Francis…

Indiana Writers Group column for Dec. 12 and thereafter (743 words) by Dr. T. Norman Van Cott I’ve been an economics professor at public universities going on 40 years, the last 30 at Ball State University in Muncie. In the parlance of economics, this means I’ve been a long-time “exporter” of economic knowledge. Those paying my salary — students, parents, and taxpayers — have been “importers.” Students and parents import voluntarily; taxpayers less than voluntarily.…

Indiana Writers Group column for Dec. 5 and thereafter by Andrea Neal Indiana’s child protection system has been rightly blamed over the years for failing the children it is supposed to serve. The problems have covered the spectrum: too few caseworkers, children lingering too long in foster care, too many decisions designed to cover agency tracks rather than do what’s best for families. But the latest tragedy appears less the result of system failure than…