I moved to Indianapolis in the summer of 2005. Since then, I have learned to count on three things to occur each summer—a substantial number of die-hard Indianapolis Colts fans will still suffer from acute post-season withdrawal; mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds will nip at my ankles during my evening walk; and a massive, five-month road construction project (or two) will spring up somewhere on Interstate 465.
There’s an old saying that a week is a lifetime in politics. Between now and Election Day 2016, there are 200 weeks—and that many lifetimes. If Gov.-elect Mike Pence is to run for president in 2016, he must begin immediately.
Mitt Romney’s comment about 47 percent of people being “takers”—those who generally live off the rest of the population’s efforts—reawakened me to a local version of this concept that creeps into our local discourse, that African-Americans in large numbers tend to live off the subsidies of others.
Gov.-elect Mike Pence proposes a 10-percent reduction in Indiana’s income tax. Some question whether we can afford it. But if we can, should we?
With Republican super-majorities in both Statehouse chambers and a newly elected governor eager to make his mark on state government, the upcoming legislative session could get controversial real fast.
During the past three years, I have had the opportunity to serve Arsenal Tech High School’s football team. It has been an edifying time as I have gotten to know our urban high school students in ways only somebody called “coach” can understand.
Consider for a moment what it’s like to be on unemployment in Indiana.
Anytime a government program makes tax dollars available to certain individuals, unfortunately, a few will look to game the system.
The Mayans were right when they predicted the world would end in 2012. It was just a select world: the GOP universe of arrogant, uptight, entitled, bossy, retrogressive white guys.
The priority for Congress as it convenes in a lame-duck session is to reach an agreement that averts a fiscal crisis. To accomplish that goal, it may also be necessary to agree on major changes to three arcane procedures that govern the House and Senate.
One thing is clear in the troubling weeks following the loss of a Republican U.S. Senate seat in Indiana: Chris Chocola will not give up easily in his quest for ideological purity.
By all accounts, Glenda Ritz has a daunting challenge as the next superintendent of public instruction. Across a state that has been at the forefront of the so-called education reform movement, recent legislation has incensed and motivated teachers in profound ways.
For the political among us, 2012 was solely focused on the election. From the early days in January with the Iowa caucuses to the ongoing transitions at the state and federal levels, the year was packed with action.
Single-parent families are at a significant economic disadvantage, and more black children in Indiana (42 percent) are living in poverty than are nationally (36 percent).
When Interstate 64 came to my hometown, I was too young to appreciate what an amazing engineering feat it was. To me, the construction zone was a wonderland of big trucks and other exotic-looking equipment.
Indiana seems to be experiencing a fresh outbreak of reefer madness.
Just north of the revived City Market, along the Alabama Street stretch of the Cultural Trail, stands a vacant landmark that has resisted redevelopment for almost a decade—the old City Hall.
Legacy can be a tricky word. Most leaders are interested in the legacy they will leave when their term ends or they step down from running an organization or entity; others, you could say, probably border on obsessed. Politicians, my reading of history has educated me, fall mostly into the obsessed category.
While the Republican brand in some quarters may be a bit tarnished these days, there is no doubting what it represents—the idea that we should have smaller government at all levels, and that government should stay out of our personal lives at least so far as taxation and guns are concerned.
Battle lines for the next General Assembly are evident already.
