RICH JAMES: Is it too soon to talk of new tax?

Northwest Indiana has languished in mediocrity for far too long, largely because of an unwillingness to raise or spend money.

RICH JAMES: It's OK for a politician to change his mind

Mike Repay’s yard signs prior to the 2012 Lake County commissioner’s Democratic primary were emphatic — “No new taxes.”

RICH JAMES: Cid is acting like a Republican

Lake County Councilwoman Christine Cid has fed at the public trough for years.

RICH JAMES: Good government would take major overhaul

What if Hammond had three mayors? Or Valparaiso? Or Crown Point?

RICH JAMES: Remove fences, end tourism turf war

There are no walls, no checkpoints and no border guards asking for residency cards when you pass from Lake County into Porter County. The same can be said when you slip from Porter County into LaPorte County.

RICH JAMES: Credit Soliday for trying to help Lake County

I suspect state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, limped home from the Indiana General Assembly a bitter and beaten man.

RICH JAMES: GOP should remember its treatment of Lake County

There’s nothing funny about abuse of power, but I couldn't let it pass without a good belly laugh.

RICH JAMES: Lake transportation system needs upgrades

If there were snail darters in Indiana, opponents of the Illiana Expressway likely would have used them to block the proposed highway.

RICH JAMES: Unfortunately for Pence, Daniels is his yardstick

I can’t help but keep thinking about Gov. Mike Pence’s obsession with cutting the state’s income tax by 10 percent.

RICH JAMES: This political theater was a farce

I’ve never met state Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican from Seymour.

RICH JAMES: Lake Republicans need to meet new reality

It’s time for Lake County Republicans to get in touch with reality when it comes to a county income tax.

RICH JAMES: Children shouldn't see how judges are behaving

If someone made a movie about the effort to name a new Lake Superior Court Juvenile Division judge, it would have to be rated PG-13.

RICH JAMES: Much of education reform is about politics, not kids

What is it with the last two governors and the General Assembly’s obsession with rating and grading Indiana’s schools?

RICH JAMES: GOP would be stopping only safe abortions

Six years after the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion, I was covering the Indiana Senate.

RICH JAMES: There's more planning than doing in NWI

If I had a nickel for every study commissioned by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District and the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, I’d be a very rich guy.

RICH JAMES: Show compassion for Lake County's troubled vets

This is one of those stories that gives government a bad name.

RICH JAMES: Not everyone defines ethics the same way

Given the time I've spent covering public corruption trials, you’d think I could easily define ethics.

RICH JAMES: Pope of Lake County's judiciary claims superiority

If you thought the Vatican was home to the greatest concentration of power in the world, you'd better think again.

RICH JAMES: Charbonneau makes income tax more palatable

Indiana state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso, was out in left field a month ago with his omnibus bill to “cure” all that ails Lake County.

RICH JAMES: McDermott deserves credit for library stance

Tackling what’s tough is difficult. Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. knows that. And that’s why he deserves credit for his latest undertaking.

RICH JAMES: What welfare recipient can afford drug treatment?

Talk about a loaded question. State Rep. Hal Slager's question is this: Do you believe Indiana, like other states, should implement random drug testing as a requirement to receiving state-funded welfare benefits?

RICH JAMES: Pence's tax cut plan doesn't make sense

There is something about Gov. Mike Pence’s proposal to cut the state income tax by 10 percent that keeps eating at me.

RICH JAMES: Lake County running out of cheeks to turn

If Lake County were a person, he’d probably be a punch-drunk fighter.

RICH JAMES: Raykovich has baggage, so send him packing

One of the guys at the heart of the East Chicago sidewalks-for-votes scandal wants to get into Lake County government.

RICH JAMES: Pick judges based on qualification, not seniority

That wonderful Lake Superior Court system the late Adam Benjamin created in the 1970s has a flaw. And it’s a big one. A gaping hole, if you will.

RICH JAMES: Indiana can't lick its mixed feelings on liquor

When Indiana went blue and voted for Barack Obama four years ago, I thought the state had crawled out of the Dark Ages.

RICH JAMES: GOP's political football trips up working man

Remember how Charlie Brown comes running to kick the football and Lucy pulls it away at the last second. And plop, there goes Charlie Brown.

RICH JAMES: Gary has right to complain this time

I used to think Gary cried “wolf” at the drop of a hat.

RICH JAMES: Raid was Indiana protecting its own interests

I feel a whole lot safer knowing the Indiana excise police shut down the Super Bowl bets at Spike’s Lakeside Inn in Schererville.

RICH JAMES: Niemeyer following in father's footsteps?

You've got to get up pretty early to stay ahead of those boys down in south Lake County. They are smooth operators.

RICH JAMES: Pull the trigger for Lake income tax

Since 2007, Lake County governmental units have been in a financial free-fall.

RICH JAMES: Judge shouldn't have needed auditors' greeting card

When it comes to public corruption, especially up in this neck of the woods, $787 is little more than chump change.

RICH JAMES: Griffith offers wrong answer on Calumet Twp.

I can’t believe Griffith is at it again, wanting to break away from Calumet Township.

RICH JAMES: Commissioners, not NRA, run Lake County

Starting today, Times readers will see a new columnist, Rich James, on A3 on Sundays and Wednesdays, in the spot formerly occupied by the late Mark Kiesling's columns.