BROOKS: The wide ripples of the experience economy
In an affluent information-driven world, people embrace post-materialist mindset. They realize they can improve their quality of life without actually producing more wealth.
Forefront
Articles
BLOW: Republicans repeal, restrict and repress
On the gay rights front, Republicans in Iowa, Indiana, West Virginia and Wyoming (where Matthew Shepard was tortured to death) are among states pushing constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage.
DOWD: Afghanistan plays worth a bottle of whiskey
“The question is,” says an American staff officer in the play, “are we on our ninth year in Afghanistan, or are we on our first year for the ninth time?”
OSILI: Invest in social services and infrastructure
The high costs of social service needs must never lead to initial under-investment or inconsistent long-term maintenance of a community’s infrastructure.
BONIFIELD: Balanced appeal will resuscitate Democrats
Democrats need to forge a coherent pact with their constituents, detailing how they will reform education without undermining educators; shepherd sensible, pro-taxpayer policies through the General Assembly without becoming distracted by fringe issues; and provide private citizens and municipalities with the tools and revenue they need to evolve Indiana into an economic leader.
MUTZ: Getting economic development right
As an IEDC board member and former lieutenant governor responsible for economic development in the 1980s, I believe IEDC is one of the most successful economic development agencies in the nation.
KRULL: Pence, Delph turn Constitution on its head
The states’ rights argument that Pence and Delph advance is the one Lincoln waged war to defeat.
HOWEY: Retool government into classes of counties
Counties with one or two major cities could have their townships within the urban areas terminated. Townships serving rural areas would continue, but their numbers could be greatly consolidated.
FARGO: Solve transparency problems with oversight
Transparency walks hand in hand with accountability. It is hard to trust what you cannot see.
LADWIG: It’s time to talk about the clocks—again
Most troubling, though, considering the depressed economy, is Gaski’s discrediting of the state chamber, which claimed that the time change would serve the ‘convenience of commerce.’
WAGNER: Here’s to liquor laws that makes sense
What bothers me most about Indiana’s alcohol laws is the lack of rational thinking behind them.”
MAHERN: The unhitching of grades and knowledge
When a child comes home with a grade, is it too much to expect that it reflect how much he or she has learned?
SPIGELMAN: Cities should share joy of continued growth, development
Without adequate funds, [Carmel] has been forced to subsidize the [Center for the Performing Arts] with taxpayer money. This is unsustainable, and we therefore need the assistance of the citizens of Indianapolis to help patronize this center by attending many of the scheduled performances now and in the years ahead.
BRAINARD: Carmel and Indianapolis draw strength from each other
Indianapolis and Carmel should continue working together to recognize and respond to the unique needs of each city and support each other in the formulation of public policy that will maintain strong balance sheets, low taxes and high quality of life.
ACCETTURO: Each city has critical interest in the success of the other
Unlike some elected officials in Carmel, I do not believe our city is an island. No one should want to stop progress in either community.
MALONE: Project will boost dormant area of downtown
The real story is the work by council members and council consultants in renegotiating the financial risks from a worst-case-scenario framework.
HERBERT: Raising false alarms about Social Security
The folks who want to raise the retirement age and hack away at benefits for ordinary working Americans are inevitably those who have not the least worry about their own retirement.
COLLINS: Michelle Bachmann’s single-mindedness
It’s not everybody who switches political parties over a historical novel, but Bachmann’s vision of the past is the core to her ideology.
BROOKS: ‘Tiger Mother’ Amy Chua is really a wimp
I believe she’s coddling her children. She’s protecting them from the most intellectually demanding activities because she doesn’t understand what’s cognitively difficult and what isn’t.
EARLY: Parties should go back to conventions
You can buy name ID (it’s expensive), but no one has figured out how to buy elected delegates.