“You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” It is difficult to think of an adage more universally endorsed in business, government, not-for-profits and throughout our culture. Every enterprise wants to demonstrate its success through measurable outcomes—whether reduced wait times in the Veterans Administration health system, increased student test scores in the Atlanta public school system, or profits in a business.
It’s time to get rid of primary elections in Indiana. Just because we’ve been using them for every race from dog catcher up to president is not good enough to keep incurring these unnecessary costs while disengaging our voters.
A couple of weeks ago, as my 14-year-old daughter, Caroline, prepared for her final days as an Oaks Academy student, she wrote, “The Oaks Academy has taught me to work hard, not because you have to but because you want to.”
It’s time for Republicans to stop playing defense on President Obama’s agenda and implement our own pro-growth agenda that solves the country’s biggest problems—the economy and jobs—then reap the political rewards.
Confession: 25 years ago, during my lunch breaks, I began listening to a newly syndicated radio talk show. The host, Rush Limbaugh, was anathema to everything I believe. But while his opinions were outrageous, his delivery was delectable.
As co-president of Indianapolis Parents, Families, Friends & Allies of Lesbians and Gays, I hear stories of heartbreak as mom after mom tell me about their children leaving because they do not feel welcome in Indiana. We as moms want to be together as a family during important times. However, because our children are moving out at such a feverish pace we miss out on so much.
Technology that makes a vast amount of public records available with a few keystrokes can also make monitoring government actions more difficult for Hoosiers.
Lost in all the rhetoric about the Affordable Care Act—website glitches, recriminations and cries for “repeal and replace”—it’s easy to forget the near-universal agreement that today’s health care environment is fragmented and inefficient.
State Sen. Brandt Hershman, key sponsor of the reduction in state corporate and bank taxes, is still insisting that more business tax cuts are the way to prosperity.
It’s time to rein in the tax abaters. If the business plan succeeds only if you can avoid or abate taxes, then it’s a bad plan.
A large amount of money is pouring into the Republican primary election for the mayor of Fishers. Don’t be swayed by the amount of money a campaign has raised.
It’s time to begin engaging public schools in ways that help ensure all children reach their God-given potential.
Indianapolis is striving to become an electric-vehicles center. Gas tax revenue is declining, though, as people drive less and as more fuel-efficient new cars require filling up less at the pump. That saves people money, reduces pollution and lessens America’s imports of foreign oil.
Education. Work-force development. Quality child care. The war on poverty. Crime. Economics. These are all familiar words and phrases used readily by policymakers, business leaders and child advocates. But rarely have the concepts been more tightly intertwined into good state policy than they were during this session of the General Assembly.
Disagreements about education reform result from conflicting models: the business model and the social model. Governors such as Daniels and Pence, reflecting their backgrounds and support structures, tend toward the business model. Superintendent Ritz, with almost 35 years as a teacher/communications coordinator in elementary schools, is more aligned with the social model.
A medical epidemic is one of the worst scenarios a hospital can face—when a significant portion of the population is suddenly struck with a life-threatening illness.
An entrepreneur, risking personal wealth, would approach the problem from a different angle.
I wasn’t prepared for what greeted me when I walked into Denver’s Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse a couple of weeks ago for jury duty.
The Pirate Code made famous in the series of “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies established rules to avoid the heightened opportunity for chaos among 18th century pirates. In some respects, all laws are established by societies to bring certainty in an uncertain world.
In the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort, disgraced broker and owner of the now-defunct brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, is portrayed by Oscar-nominated actor Leonardo DiCaprio as over-the-top good looking, witty and motivational. Belfort, if we are to believe what we see in the film, is a phenomenal salesman—a self-made man committed to making lots of money for himself and his friends.
