Articles

VAUGHN: Fixing a rigged game requires neutral referees

Allowing legislators to draw their own districts is like the NBA allowing the home team to hire its own officials; it would be an obvious conflict of interest that would discredit the process and lead to unfair play. That’s why redistricting reform tops Common Cause Indiana’s legislative agenda and why I’m pleased that the House took action early this session by passing House Bill 1032.<

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VAUGHN: Ag gag and its euphemisms are back

One of the most controversial proposals to emerge at the 2013 General Assembly has resurfaced as the topic of a summer study committee. Late last month, the Interim Study Committee on Economic Development focused on ag gag legislation that would make it a crime to expose illegal, inhumane or unsafe conditions at factory farms in Indiana.

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VAUGHN: Stand your ground against tricky ALEC

With the controversial verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial, attention has returned to the stand-your-ground law that was so central to the defense’s case. Attention has also returned to a key group behind the adoption of stand-your-ground laws in Florida and two dozen other states, including Indiana.

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VAUGHN: Expanding Medicaid would benefit all

In these pages last fall, I complained about gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence playing politics with the implementation of federal health reform. Unfortunately, now that he’s been elected governor, the game-playing continues and uninsured Hoosiers continue to be pawns in Pence’s game with federal officials.

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VAUGHN: Action will make IEDC talk believable

When I first met Mike Pence back in the mid-1990s, he was working as a radio and TV talk show host in Indianapolis. I was a guest on his public affairs program many times and came to know the future governor as an affable and evenhanded host who made room for all points of view while clearly stating his own.

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VAUGHN: Super PACs still threaten democracy

Forget red states versus blue states. The color best representative of the 2012 election is green, as in greenbacks. The election was not only the most expensive in our nation’s history at $6 billion spent, but it also shattered the record by more than $700 million. More than 1,000 Super PACs were formed and they spent at least $970 million, much of it on negative television ads and direct mail.

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