Justin Katz
Although he offers an historical contextualization of the rioting in Greece, Robert Kaplan worries that they may be an indication of the century to come: The protests of today are not about America; they are about the legitimacy of a government that has been in power for four years without achieving much. With the global…
Simply because it represented an unanticipated expenditure during a time of extremely tight budgets — indeed, when the town council is pondering a “token” reduction in its own pay totaling $2,520 — I made note of the Tiverton Town Council’s decision to make $900 available to municipal officials to attend a Grow Smart RI workshop…
With taxpayers — especially business taxpayers — beginning to get uppity, one often hears the invocation of Rhode Island’s Political Knot. Nothing objectionable is anybody’s fault; it’s all a natural construct that can’t be changed… at least by the person to whom one would turn for relief. Take the “tangible tax.” I know of at…
Len Lardaro was on Dan Yorke’s show early this afternoon to talk about the op-ed that I mentioned this morning, and he declared that his suggestion of raising the state’s sales tax to 8% was more or less a joke to get a rise out of people. Frankly, I don’t know Professor Lardaro, but my…
With the new year and the new dynamic in the town council, I thought I’d best resume the habit of attending all meetings — exuding my apparently intimidating presence. At the moment, there’s one of those typical town-level debates about development issues. Somebody wants to develop and needs some sort of concession from the town…
Ever have an educator explain to you that it is important to hear all sides of an argument and to engage the opposition in dialogue? Well, for many humanities professors, that may be a lesson preached more than practiced: Anyone who needed evidence that the culture wars are far from over could find it here…
Many Rhode Islanders surely share the sentiments that Sharon West expresses from East Providence: Recently, a consultant hired by the committee reported that the average teacher makes $69,000 a year and receives benefits costing $26,000 annually. Yes, $95,000, and many make even more. The consultant stated that this amounts to an hourly wage of $93.…
URI economics professor Len Lardaro had a very disappointing piece in the Providence Journal on Saturday, advising a tax increase in order — curiously enough — to benefit schools and universities. Professor Lardaro states that “investment-related activities… by their nature entail sacrifice” and suggests the following: I propose raising the state’s sales-tax rate to 8…
It’s important to keep in mind that this report consists mainly of allegations, some of them (at least) made by people with compromising motivation. That said, the insight into the practices of our state are well worth familiarization: [Probate Judge Robert E.] Rainville says he has done nothing wrong — and that the complaints against…
