Ripple
From Preston Brashers’s report, the three Bs appear to stand for “Build Bureaucracy Bigger”: The Build Back Better Act has several provisions that make Congress less accountable for U.S. tax policy and give unaccountable bureaucrats more control. The act would (1) give the IRS more regulatory authority, (2) task IRS agents with finding new revenues,…
As I’ve written before, when considering a state’s mix of all the different taxes, I’m not as bothered by high property taxes as other folks on the hawk side of the taxation spectrum. That said, the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC) makes a good point that differentiations between different types of property should be…
To be sure, Governor McKee’s rescission of his School Choice Week proclamation was a worrisome move independently of the underlying issue, so we can’t really fault Helena Foulkes, who’s campaigning for his job, for jumping on it. That said, because the underlying issue is school choice, which seeks to expand the educational opportunities for all…
His legislation would essentially make every general election a two-stage affair, with the primary being more like what we think of as the general and the general becoming something more like a runoff. The idea of primaries is to help voters organized into parties find the best candidate within the scope of their party’s definition. …
This can’t be good: In the past few months, I have spoken to dozens of parliamentarians, officials and diplomats across Europe who have simply lost faith in American leadership. One very senior British MP told me last week that Biden’s foreign policy was “appalling” and “completely useless”. And this is coming from America’s closest friend…
It’s difficult to argue with this statement from the stepfather of a young woman who died from a fatal hit-and-run accident: “When you say you’re going to do something and you document that you’re going to do it and you’re seen doing it, it can’t be an accident anymore. He murdered Olivia and we want…
… Neil Young is still alive!
In fairness, I don’t think Nicole Solas has it quite right when she calls Moses Brown School “the most expensive private school in Rhode Island. Even without boarding, it looks like St. George’s, St. Andrew’s, Portsmouth Abbey, and the Lincoln School all have Moses Brown beat. But who’s going to quibble over a few thousand…
As John DePetro says, paying outgoing Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott $46,000 per month for three months as a “consultant” by way of ushering her out the door “is absolutely outrageous.” On a first pass, it makes one wonder what was really going on behind the scenes. How did she have the negotiation leverage…
Here’s state senator and progressive candidate for lieutenant governor Cynthia Mendes: It’s Monday in #RI. Our hospitals are packed. Our teachers are afraid to go to work today because of raging COVID cases in our schools. Our students are terrified of putting their families in danger by going to school. Teaching & learning shouldn’t be…