Coats defends his vote on guns
May 20, 2013
Although polls nationwide and in Indiana show overwhelming support for tightening background checks for gun purchases,Sen. Dan Coats, Indiana's Republican senior senator, voted "no." He says most constituents who contacted him wanted him to do just that. In a wide-ranging interview in Mishawaka, Coats said the gun issue broughtmore calls, e-mails and letters to his office -- more than 40,000 -- than received on all other issues combined in the past two years. Coats said more than 75 percent of the messages were in opposition to tighter background checks in the proposal of Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., which died in the Senate after failing to get a required 60 votes.
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A health plan prescribed by 'Doc' Bowen
May 12, 2013
Instead of Obamacare, still so contentious and with all the pieces not yet in place, we could have had Bowencare, with the key piece put in place on July 1, 1988, by Ronald Reagan.
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He relied on common sense and facts
May 6, 2013
Even as governor of Indiana and then in Washington as a member of President Reagan's Cabinet, Otis R. Bowen remained "Doc" Bowen, never pretentious, always with the same friendly, caring ways of his years as a family doctor in Bremen.
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'Sort of' a good session for Gov. Pence
May 6, 2013
How did the governor do?
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Stands against the majority opinion
April 28, 2013
A statewide poll shows that Joe Donnelly and Dan Coats, Indiana's U.S. senators, took stands opposed by a majority of their Hoosier constituents -- one on gay marriage, the other on background checks for gun purchases.
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The most dangerous threat is fear
April 21, 2013
A graffiti-type message left in a women's restroom at an Elkhart license branch kept thousands of kids from school on the day of the Boston Marathon.
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No merit to 'fixing' selection process
April 14, 2013
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That sound advice is ignored repeatedly by politicians who want to change the merit selection system for selection of St. Joseph County Superior Court judges. The system has worked well for four decades.
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Survey reveals the slimy underbelly
April 8, 2013
American voters don't understand the very real threat of the Lizard People. Don't they see on the Internet about those shape-shifting reptilian people seeking to rule the world?
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A Dyngus Day for the history books
March 31, 2013
Forty-five years ago, Bobby Kennedy came to South Bend for the wildest of all Dyngus Days. Kennedy would have been president if he had lived long enough.
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Shifting party fortunes is nothing new
March 25, 2013
Is the Republican Party toast? You would think so, listening to the political analysts and strategists, including those who prepared a harshly critical self-appraisal for the Republican National Committee.
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Weigh what you hear on the 'news'
March 17, 2013
With focus now on Lincoln and other celebrated figures in American history, we hear discussions of what they would think, do or say today.
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Slip-up may have cost Pence his tax cut
March 10, 2013
Chances of Gov. Mike Pence winning legislative approval of his signature 10 percent income tax cut began to slip away last Oct. 23.
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Who sacrifices for sequestration?
March 3, 2013
There was a way to convince Congress to act responsibly to prevent the damage from that thing called sequester.
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Who picks up the tab for the so-called 'free' lunch?
February 24, 2013
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
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Lugar still speaking his own mind
February 18, 2013
Politicians on the Far Right, seeking to turn the Republican Party into an uncompromising, unquestioning cause in their own image, sought to silence Dick Lugar's voice of moderation, promising that Indiana still would send a Republican to the Senate.
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Sky is no limit in battling the New World Order
February 10, 2013
Sales of assault rifles and 30-round ammo clips are sky high since those 20 first-graders were slain in Connecticut. And for many purchasers, the sky is why.
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Governors are prey to economic tide
February 4, 2013
Candidates for governor, all of them, campaign on jobs, more jobs for Indiana and vast improvement in the state's economy. When elected, they brag about accomplishments in job creation, especially in seeking re-election. And they leave office citing a legacy of economic expansion, whether or not there has been much or any.
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One inaugural address, two very different reactions
January 27, 2013
Reaction from the more partisan evaluators of President Barack Obama's second inaugural address can be summed up succinctly this way:
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Leading two very different Houses
January 24, 2013
Speaker of the House.
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Congress' popularity reaches new low
January 13, 2013
How low can Congress go? Well, lower than a cockroach. Really. A nationwide poll last week conducted by Public Policy Polling found Americans had a higher opinion of cockroaches than of Congress.
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Congress holds its noise and votes
January 6, 2013
Just shut up.
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Let's focus the discussion on safety
December 30, 2012
Let's stop talking about "gun control."
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Santa has noted these newsmakers
December 23, 2012
As he does every year at this time, a very reliable source dropped off a list of what some prominent people will find under their Christmas trees.
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Political weapon knows no boundaries
December 16, 2012
Boundaries more than ballots determine members of Congress in many states.
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Mark your calendars: The end is near
December 9, 2012
Fear not the fiscal cliff. It won't be looming there on Jan. 1. Nothing will be there. The world ends on Dec. 21.
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How one side misread the electorate
December 2, 2012
We now know from exit polls and post-election interviews that most supporters of Mitt Romney, including his campaign officials and, apparently, Romney himself, were convinced as Election Day dawned that the election was in the bag. For Romney. Quite likely by the landslide over a hapless Barack Obama that was predicted by Dick Morris on Fox News.
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The odds of a 2nd District rematch
November 25, 2012
If they meet in an expected 2nd Congressional District rematch in 2014 -- Brendan Mullen vs. Jackie Walorski -- some things will be different. One very important thing will be the same.
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Time to trot out this year's turkeys
November 18, 2012
With Thanksgiving almost here, it's time to present the annual Turkey of the Year Awards.
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A political debate gaffe that just kept on giving
November 11, 2012
The Mourdock mistake was costly.
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Answers to these burning questions will come Tuesday
November 4, 2012
Questions abound as polls paint a confusing map of projected red and blue states and pundits ponder effects of a hurricane disaster on the election. In Indiana, not a battleground this time in the presidential race, the big question is whether Richard Mourdock self-destructed with his famous -- or infamous -- debate claim that a pregnancy resulting from rape is "something that God intended to happen."
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Will 'prevent defense' win the race?
October 28, 2012
In football, a prevent defense often is used by a team with a narrow lead near the end of a game to guard against a big play by the opponent. It can stymie the opponent. Or, sometimes, it can lead to shorter but effective gains that enable the opponent to come back to win.
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Will Chrysler be a vehicle for Donnelly Senate win?
October 21, 2012
Joe Donnelly travels on the wheels of Chrysler toward the U.S. Senate. If he gets there -- and it's about a 50-50 chance -- it will be because of the jobs issue, specifically, the jobs saved at Chrysler and beyond in the vital automotive-related industry in Indiana.
