Justin Katz

A Republican cruise ship leaves a Democrat lifeboat behind

Politics This Week: RI Left Behind

By Justin Katz | November 12, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss the prospects for the Ocean State after a full Republican sweep in D.C.

A post-Revolution journalist takes notes on an iPad in Boston

American political media has never been self-funding.

By Justin Katz | November 7, 2024 |

While developing plans for the future, I’ve been reading about the history of American journalism, and an observation from the post-Revolution period has been worth more than a few underlines.  Political parties always want dedicated media outlets, but media outlets dedicated to partisan politics never pay for themselves.  Jefferson had to give a no-show State Department job…

A water drop and ripples

We’re getting a clear picture of what we’ve let our country become.

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2024 |

Mark Steyn’s daily pre-election column is vintage Steyn today. But in Botswana everyone voted on Wednesday, the last up-country results came in on Thursday, the ruling party conceded and the new guy was sworn in on Friday. That’s a normal election in a normal country. Meanwhile, back in the greatest country in the history of…

A family walks through a deteriorating morgue

Politics This Week: The Constant Stench of Corruption

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz highlight the constant sense of political corruption in Rhode Island.

A water drop and ripples

We’re being governed by a deliberately toxic and wasteful bureaucracy.

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2024 |

I’ve fallen way behind, so this tweet from Ken Block is a couple months old, but its content is (unfortunately) timeless in Rhode Island: The picture being painted for me by over ten current and former DOT employees is a toxically managed organization where who you know is far more important than how you do…

Hasbro's haunted headquarters

Politics This Week: Where Rhode Island Used to Be

By Justin Katz | October 30, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz review signs of things going wrong in the Ocean State.

Villains sitting on a platform with the ladder up sawed off.

Politics This Week: Nothing a Little Genuine Competition Couldn’t Fix

By Justin Katz | October 21, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz follow local stories’ thread of RI’s obvious need for political competition.

A water drop and ripples

Federal government data simply can no longer be taken at face value.

By Justin Katz | October 16, 2024 |

I realized this when watching Democrats’ repeated proclamations about jobs numbers during the Obama years only to see those numbers quietly revised the following month, almost always with the revision making touted jobs disappear, rather than quiet corrections representing improvements. Now, it seems crime data has the same partisan infection.  All year, we’ve been hearing…

A heavy man races casually without competition

Politics This Week: Corruption Without Competition

By Justin Katz | October 15, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz discuss ways in which corruption thrives without competitive elections.

A bored RI governor waits for the work day to end

Politics This Week: When “Public Service” Is the Day Job

By Justin Katz | October 7, 2024 |

John DePetro and Justin Katz wonder where the will for public service has gone.