Page 2 - Ed Simcox News Today

March 16, 2021 7:01 AM By Zachary Sherwood and Brandon Lee President Joe Biden’s next big economic package helped set off a heated debate among Republicans over whether to participate in the return of lawmakers’ dedicated-spending projects, known as earmarks, a tussle that could be key to its success. After muscling his $1.9 trillion pandemic-relief bill through Congress without a single Republican vote, Biden is hoping to bring GOP members aboard an infrastructure package...

That kind of interference would have been stopped cold in an earlier era, though the rest of the state never loved the big city. Coming from Indianapolis was a liability in any statewide political race. Mayors of Indianapolis routinely lost statewide races. Mayor Bill Hudnut lost a 1990 race for secretary of state, in what he and Republican supporters saw as a stepping stone to run for governor. Mayor Steve Goldsmith lost a race for governor in 1996, after putting the city on the national map. ...

Op-ed: How a Goldwater Republican from Indiana presaged modern-day prison reform Russ Pulliam, Indianapolis Star Replay Video UP NEXT State Sen. Leslie Duvall did not seem to be the obvious leader for a prison reform movement for Indiana in the 1980s.  The Indianapolis Republican was conservative by conviction and chairman of the 1964 Barry Goldwater for President movement in Indiana. Elected to the state Senate in 1966, Duvall became the Republican authority on criminal justi...

Cesc Maymo, Getty Images This past summer, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services triggered alarm among public health advocates when it directed hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when reporting COVID-19 patient data. President-elect Joe Bidens next moves regarding COVID-19 data reporting, and HHS as a whole, are still unknown. But the coronavirus crisis makes it clear that the huge gaps in information sharing in the United States must be addressed, say...