Justin Katz
The following sentiment, expressed here by a small-business owner being crushed by the Washington Bridge closure, has been expressed by people seeking to reform Rhode Island for decades, so it is encouraging to find it somewhere outside of our meetings and events: “think of how successful we could be if we weren’t having to pick…
The latest shiny news object in Rhode Island media is the revelation that the Tidewater soccer stadium will cost Rhode Island taxpayers $132 million in order to finance $27 million of the construction costs, or $4.4 million per year for 30 years. Grumbling is being heard from people with familiar names — “obviously these are…
The signs of Rhode Island’s decline are piling up, but here’s a small one worth noting: Once considered a pipe dream, a new $100 million Rhode Island state archives museum is closer than ever to being built. … … McKee’s office has asked to investigate whether the land next door to the Providence Amtrak station…
John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss unions, immigration, infrastructure, borrowing, and other ways special interests profit from government.
When I see statements like the following (from a former Bernie Sanders surrogate, in this case), my reaction is usually, “Fair enough, but then what”? So what’s the alternative? If we move toward the single-payer, government-managed system Dr. Dooley likely supports, then it’ll be politicians and bureaucrats rather than doctors. And even in the case…
A truism about government used to be heard periodically: A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have. That saying’s a bit dark, though, and makes its point in an extreme way that younger Americans who’ve been raised with an implicit trust of big government…
Among my frustrations with social media in recent years has been the way my streams become filled with content in which I have minimal interest — like Democrat propaganda — because people share it in disbelief. The frustration is primarily with the realization that people apparently believe in completely incompatible realities, which is what motivates…
As business-as-usual as it may be, we shouldn’t become numb to Rhode Island’s base-level corruption, as Democrat House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi demonstrates here: Charitable contributions are wonderful, but this photograph raises some questions. Is that his official State House office? Is that a personal check, a gift from his campaign, or a taxpayer-funded legislative grant? …
The quotation John pulls from the article is worth highlighting: The disregard of the law is only an incremental worsening of the problem. Teachers’ going on strike (especially for crass considerations like even higher pay and benefits) has always seemed shocking to me and one of the reasons their unionization seems wholly inappropriate. If they…
John DePetro and Justin Katz trace the disconnect between what Rhode Island needs and what its politicians keep supplying.