FEIGENBAUM: Prepare for a history-making budget process
Hoosier Democrats may find that their solon sojourn in Illinois invokes Newton’s law of political physics: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
Opinion
Articles
Governor will damage public schools
Things are getting crazy as state resources diminish. Our governor is clearly out of touch with reality. He wants to abolish the 1:600 ratio for elementary school counselors to students on top of drastically cutting back state-supported mental-health programs.
Education bills deserve scrutiny
In “Tough love for public education” [a column in the Feb. 14 issue, Greg Morris makes] several excellent points.
Let’s keep shrinking local government
I found Morton Marcus’ [Feb. 21 column], “Rethink government consolidation now” provocative and in alignment with my thinking.
Horse investment not ‘shameful’
Thank you very much for your accurate [Feb. 28 editorial] on the Indiana horse industry.
KENNEDY: Who moved Wisconsin’s cheese?
I can’t help thinking how ironic it is that Wisconsin—home of the “cheeseheads”—is the most prominent example of what happens when political leadership stubbornly refuses to deal with an economic landscape that has changed.
MARCUS: The nightmare in my neighborhood
Clearly, any group of workers with incomes in excess of their proportion in the economy are villains.
KRUGMAN: Majoring in the minors in balanced budget
In a better world, politicians would talk to voters as if they were adults. They would explain that discretionary spending has little to do with the long-run imbalance between spending and revenues.
FRIEDMAN: They did it: Egypt’s long walk to freedom
Because the Obama team never found the voice to fully endorse the Tahrir Square revolution until it was over, the people in that square now know one very powerful thing: They did this all by themselves.
HERBERT: Separating Reagan myth from reality
What we get with Reagan are a series of disconnects and contradictions that have led us to a situation in which a president widely hailed as a hero of the working class set in motion policies that have been mind-bogglingly beneficial to the wealthy and devastating to working people and the poor.
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.
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.’