After reviewing the facts surrounding a proposed expansion of mass-transit services in central Indiana, gathering input from local officials, meeting with the public, and listening to concerns about establishing an expanded transit system, legislators are working to develop a plan that is both efficient and cost-effective.
Folks in the business of passing laws and enforcing them must, of necessity, impose somebody’s idea of what is good on the rest of us.
I’ve written a fair bit in these pages about the pitfalls of official secrecy—the often unjustified withholding of information by public agencies at all levels of government.
It would be easy to miss the significance of the seven Indiana House Republicans all supporting the 2013 budget deal.
Spend any time around monetary officials and one word you’ll hear a lot is “normalization.” Most such officials accept that now is no time to be tightfisted, that for the time being credit must be easy and interest rates low.
In an interview with the BBC last month, Oprah Winfrey said of President Obama: “There is a level of disrespect for the office that occurs. And that occurs, in some cases, and maybe even many cases, because he’s African-American.”
We’re about to leave one unique facet of Indiana politics and enter another.
Everybody’s talking about Obamacare. Website crashes. People booted off their health insurance. Sticker shock. No doubt we’ll be talking about it through the 2014 election. And the 2016 election. And most likely well beyond that.
The failed rollout of the Obamacare health care exchanges is seen by many as a political gift to the Republican Party. There is no question that President Obama’s administration failed to execute a controversial law that has been heavily criticized, litigated in courts and elections, and created great unrest among the American people.
Former Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard and other veterans of the highest state courts in the country issued a warning a few days ago about the dangers of large-scale campaign spending in judicial campaigns.
Although voters in Marion County won’t cast ballots for City-County elections until 2015, two courts are considering cases that will have a major impact on local elections.
Surely Larry Conrad is smiling over the recent report about the phenomenal strength of the housing market in downtown Indianapolis.
Earlier this year, I wrote for this publication about the rise of a new Hoosier swing voter, women my age who live in the doughnut counties around Indianapolis.
Sid and Lois Eskenazi Hospital recently opened downtown to justifiable fanfare. The state-of-the-art campus is the city’s only public hospital. Formerly known as Wishard Hospital, Eskenazi Health has long served some of our most vulnerable neighbors.
What is the number one complaint of Hoosier employers? The labor force is outdated. We do not have enough workers with the training and experience to compete with other states and nations.
Although they don’t all have a natural sense of rhythm, and a few of them are always laughing and carrying on, some of my best friends are Republicans.
We rejoice in technological change when it improves the efficacy of our computers, but greet societal changes with less exuberance.
Indiana has a habit of being a bit behind the curve. In recent years, we have departed from that tradition, moving boldly in education reform, telecommunications reform and economic development. We have been named the fifth-best state to do business, third best in job attraction, and best in the country for international investment.
emocratic Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz and Gov. Mike Pence are spending more time arguing than doing anything worthwhile for Indiana’s education system.
Despite being an underdog in her first run for public office, Glenda Ritz defeated incumbent Tony Bennett to become Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction in November.
