Carroll Andrew Morse

Open Thread: Is there a Big Idea in Modern Political Philsophy that’s Not Somewhere in the Work of John Locke, Edmund Burke, or Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 20, 2011 |

I can’t think of a body for this post that makes clearer what’s in the title.

Receivership for Entire Countries?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 19, 2011 |

If you think that suspension of democracy justified on fiscal grounds will only be a small scale phenomenon occassionally affecting a municipality here and there, think again. From the Daily Telegraph (h/t Walter Russell Mead)…An intrusive European body with the power to take over the economies of struggling nations should be set up to tackle…

Pension Reform Bill on its Way to Passing Passes

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 17, 2011 |

According to members of the RI press corps providing blow-by-blow coverage of the pension reform bill floor debates via Twitter (Ted Nesi, Ian Donnis, Bill Rappleye), save for an initial amendment backed by leadership that doesn’t seem to make any major changes, debate on amendments in the RI House of Representatives has closed with no…

Balanced Budget Amendment Coming up For a Vote in Congress

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 17, 2011 |

Part of the deal made earlier this year to increase the Federal debt-ceiling included taking votes in both the House and the Senate by December 31 on a balanced budget Constitutional amendment. The House is expected to take its vote by tomorrow. The main provisions of the the version of the amendment expected to be…

The Conflicts of Governance that the Pension Reform Law Could Create

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 16, 2011 |

Predicting that the pension reform bill will be passed by the RI legislature mostly as reported from committee, Jim Baron of the Pawtucket Times has far and away come up with the best imagery for describing how the floor debate will likely play out…Much like the budget process, individual legislators will be welcome to submit…

Rhode Island Will Recover, After Everyone Else Does

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 15, 2011 |

A projection posted at the New York Times Economix blog divides the 50 states and the District of Columbia into 5 groups, based on when they are expected to be home to the same number of jobs that they were in December 2007. The first group has already recovered. The group after that is projected…

Time for Jon Huntsman to Go Away

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 14, 2011 |

If anyone in the Republican Party cared about Jon Huntsman’s candidacy, his would have been the biggest gaffe of the CBS/National Journal Saturday night “Commander-in-Chief” Presidential debate. Following an answer from Mitt Romney on possible World Trade Organization action against China, Huntsman said…First of all, I don’t think you can take China to the W.T.O.…

East Providence Headed for a Fiscal Overseer?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 11, 2011 |

Ted Nesi of WPRI-TV (CBS 12) is reporting that Chafee administration is close to applying the state’s municipal fiscal stabilization law to the City of East Providence. According to the WPRI report, East Providence wouldn’t go immediately into receivership, as Central Falls did, but would have a fiscal overseer appointed for them by the state.…

Pension Coverage From Around the RI Interwebs

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 10, 2011 |

1. According to Ted Nesi of WPRI-TV (CBS 12), there’s little change in the overall fiscal impact, between the original pension bill and the amended pension bill. 2. State Treasurer Gina Raimondo fully backs the revised bill, and is discouraging any amendments that would change around the fiscal particulars (h/t Ian Donnis)…“In the coming days,…

Claiborne Pell Was a Fiscal Extremist, According to Today’s Democrats — He Supported a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment

By Carroll Andrew Morse | November 7, 2011 |

In September, Rhode Island State Democratic Chairman Edwin Pacheco staked his party to an aggressive stand against adding a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution, characterizing such an amendment in an official press release as “extreme economic policy”. But support for Federal spending-with-no-ending has not always been the singularly dominant position amongst Rhode…