Archive for the “Health & Education” Category

Originally printed in the News-Sentinel, here. 

Conservative presidential campaigns issue promises to end the reign of big government.

As a general rule, the more conservative the candidate, the less enamored with governmental oversight. Conversely, the more liberal the candidate, the more enamored with governmental oversight.

With one glaring exception, that is. That sole exception is the grisly and carnivorous abortion industry.

By way of example, consider a Jan. 4, 2012, article from the Chicago Tribune, dateline Rockford, Ill. An abortuary closed down last September due to health and safety violations has been ordered to pay out $9,750 in fines to the state of Illinois. This sounds like great news, but it is far too little and comes far too late. (Doesn’t it seem a trifling “tribute” to pay for enjoying the state-countenanced privilege of butchering the next generation of American citizens?)

The realpolitik of the situation is this: Political pressure and troubling revelations regarding the status quo ante inside the outpatient facilities advancing the culture of death finally moved Illinois bureaucrats to action. According to The Associated Press, once Illinois officials finally caved to the political realities and inspected the Rockford mill they discovered Read the rest of this entry »

by JEFF ABBOTT, Ph.D.

Public school superintendents are greedy, selfish, over-paid, a big waste of taxpayer dollars — or so popular thought goes. Such perceptions are fueled by news reports of superintendent compensation packages, retirement packages and contract buyouts.

The Philadelphia School District this fall bought out its superintendent’s contract for $905,000. And closer to home, an Indianapolis-area superintendent retired this year with a $1-million retirement package (but a few weeks after retirement decided to forego $200,000 of the retirement pay). Another Indianapolis-area superintendent a few years ago settled a contract buyout dispute by accepting a settlement of $470,000. A Fort Wayne-area superintendent received a retirement package of $495,000 a few years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

By Craig Ladwig

Of all the things you have to worry about in these serious times, you don’t have to worry that the Indiana Legislature, GOP majority or not, will do anything substantive to improve Indiana’s budgetary, fiscal or economic position. With Organization Day around the corner, Nov. 22, and a governing class marking time until the gubnatorial election, that is not cynicism, merely reality. Read the rest of this entry »

By Eric Schansberg, Ph.D.

Before we sit down for the next GOP presidential debate, we need to resolve a famous exchange from the last one. The topic was health Care. It involved CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Rep. Ron Paul and the partisan crowd. It begs our most careful thought.

Blitzer asked Paul about a hypothetical 30-year-old man who refused to purchase health insurance, got sick and needed extensive medical treatment. Blitzer asked, “Who pays?”

Paul replied, “That’s what freedom is all about, taking your own risks . . .”

Blitzer interrupted him by asking, “Are you saying the society should just let him die?” Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

AFA of Indiana Continues to Help Make Your Voice Heard

When the mail arrives at Indianapolis Congressman Andre Carson’s office today, his staff should receive a packet containing a cover letter and 22 pages of petition signatures asking him to apologize for his racially charged comments. As you know, the Congressman told a mostly African-American audience that there were members of congress and many in the TEA Party who want to see blacks lynched.

I want to thank the nearly 600 Hoosiers who signed our online petition launched late last week asking Rep. Carson to produce evidence of such an astonishing claim or issue a public apology for his reckless and hurtful allegation. In our letter, I assured the Congressman that I would pass along his response without any commentary from me to this e-list. Read the rest of this entry »

by Clarence R. Deitsch, Ph.D. (near right below)
and T. Norman Van Cott, Ph.D.
Colleges and universities routinely produce lots of things, including evidence about their students’ accomplishments and credentials. Students’ athletic achievements, for example, are reported with fanfare and detail. The measuring rods for athletic achievements don’t change over time — yards per rushing attempt in football means the same thing today as in previous years.

But what if the number of inches per yard on football fields were falling at an unknown rate? That is, suppose that yards were getting “shorter.” Yards per rushing attempt would be rising, but the statistic would have diminished information value, particularly for making comparisons across time. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Abortion Industry Won’t Easily Let Go of Our Tax Dollars

One need only look to the attack on marriage to see that when the far left cannot convince the public or our elected officials to embrace their radical agenda, the next step is to lobby unelected judges. This is also the case with Planned Parenthood after their loss in the 2011 legislature. Read the rest of this entry »

“The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people and especially of government always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.” — the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

By Andrea Neal

Before lawmakers put finishing touches on any private-school voucher bill, they should consider the law of unintended consequences.

Opponents of vouchers worry that they’ll lead to excessive entanglement of church with state. Proponents should worry about excessive involvement of state in private and religious schools. Read the rest of this entry »

By Craig Ladwig

There is an intense argument under way in the letters columns of Indiana newspapers between the head of the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) and a GOP state senator. One side thinks the other side’s estimate of the cost of teacher unionization is wrong.

The two sides, though, are not equally credible. The position of the senator is straightforward and politically courageous, i.e., a powerful private entity, the teachers union, is destructive and should be disbanded.

On the other side, the position of the ISTA, unarguably self-interested, is reactive, i.e., the opposing position is “absurd.” Read the rest of this entry »

Al Jacquay wrote an editorial in the News Sentinel today, and it’s so off-base, I had to respond. Jacquay is president of the Fort Wayne Education Association. Read the rest of this entry »

Harris Elementary School PTA President Lorah Weesner sent this letter home with all students, not just those whose parents are in the PTA.

Click to enlarge

She is apparently spell check challenged. That aside, included in the document is a list of what House bills 1002, 1476, 1003, & Senate bills 496, 446 &497 mean for the public school system in Indiana and what that the PTA and ISTA think are wrong with them. Read the rest of this entry »