Carroll Andrew Morse

Remember

By Carroll Andrew Morse | September 11, 2011 |

As someone who was not touched directly by the killing on September 11, it was American Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon that led, on a personal level, to my most fearful moments of the day. On the radio, John Dennis relayed an unconfirmed report that smoke was rising from the Pentagon. If the report…

Remember

By Carroll Andrew Morse | September 11, 2011 |

For most of the world including myself, it was United Flight 175 hitting the South Tower that made it clear that what was happening was not a “mere” accident. Two planes hitting the World Trade Center could not be a coincidence. From the hour that followed the second crash, I will always remember Gerry Callahan…

Remember

By Carroll Andrew Morse | September 11, 2011 |

In 2001, I was working at a company that had a very liberal flex-time policy, so by the time I woke up on September 11, John Dennis and Gerry Callahan of WEEI radio were already reporting on a plane that had crashed into the upper floors of the World Trade Center. For a few more…

The Scituate Pension Forum

By Carroll Andrew Morse | September 8, 2011 |

The Scituate Democratic Town Committee held a forum on Wednesday evening, where Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, current Pension Commission member (and Scituate Resident) Ernest Almonte and State Representative Michael Marcello answered questions about pension reform. They didn’t discuss specific proposals that might go before the legislature next month, but Treasurer Raimondo did say…

Walter Russell Mead on the Collapse of Rhode Island

By Carroll Andrew Morse | September 6, 2011 |

Walter Russell Mead of

The Protest Against the Debt Ceiling Deal

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 11, 2011 |

Yesterday, MoveOn.org and several like-minded local groups held a protest at the statehouse. According to Philip Marcelo of the Projo, the theme was opposition to the debt-ceiling deal signed into law last week. Immediately following the Tax Day Tea Party rally this past April, commentary was offered, in this and other forums, that not enough…

What Was Standard and Poor’s Expecting to Happen?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 6, 2011 |

This is from Page 3 of the official statement from Standard and Poor’s on their downgrade of the US credit rating…Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive…

And the Winner of this Week’s James McLaughlin Award Is…

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 4, 2011 |

…United States Senator Jack Reed, for his comments to John E. Mulligan of the Projo on the subject of the “Amazon Tax”…U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has signed on in support of legislation to require online retailers to collect state sales taxes on their merchandise… Reed said the Amazon bill could get caught up in the…

Some Possible Balanced Budget Amendments

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 3, 2011 |

In the Federal debt-ceiling deal passed yesterday, as an alternative in phase II to a specific program cuts projected to cut spending by 1.2 trillion dollars, the debt-ceiling can be raised by 1.5 trillion dollars if Congress sends a balanced budget amendment to the US Constitution to the states for ratification. This raises the question…

How Surprising is it that the Dow Dropped After the Debt Ceiling Deal?

By Carroll Andrew Morse | August 3, 2011 |

I saw a headline from a CNN newscast from last evening that read “Dow Drops Despite Debt Deal”. With the disclaimer that you don’t want to attribute too much significance to a single day’s movement in the stock market, I don’t see the drop as paradoxical or even random. The first chapter of any book…