Justin Katz

The Selfishness of Thinking Ahead

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2008 |

Financial columnist Michelle Singletary pauses amid the economic crisis to give a hard kick to the notion of privatizing Social Security as a method of preserving its long-term prospects. The column resists selective quoting, so I recommend that you read the whole thing, but the essence is that Singletary describes retirement planning as a three-legged…

A Brief History of TCC

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2008 |

For those interested in some video highlights of the last six months’ events in Tiverton budgetary politics, Tiverton Citizens for Change has a video up on its Web site. Watching it all unfold again, it’s remains difficult to believe the scam that the local government pulled to get the budget that it wanted. It also…

One Way to National SSM

By Justin Katz | October 28, 2008 |

Look, I’m not making any claims as to whether and how Obama will seek to silence the political right wing, or how much he’ll succeed if he tries. As I’ve been reading various news items throughout the campaign season, a plot has begun to form. It’s not a matter of predicting the future; it’s a…

Making It Through to the Wallop

By Justin Katz | October 27, 2008 |

Well, RI General Treasurer Frank Caprio sold his $350 million in bonds today: General Treasurer Frank Caprio announced today that the State of Rhode Island raised $350M from the sale of Tax Anticipation Notes (TANs). Just over $25M was sold directly to Rhode Islanders. In a rare retail push of TANS, Bank of America and…

Getting from Here to There

By Justin Katz | October 27, 2008 |

The notions of the mainstream media and its demagogue and the transformation to something hardly recognizable as the United States of America spark an imaginative exercise. Admittedly, one begins to edge toward the line from analysis to creative writing with this stuff, but a few threads in current events point to an interesting tangle. Picture…

What We’ll Know When the Center Isn’t So Critical

By Justin Katz | October 27, 2008 |

Surely we’ve all had experiences with those deceitful practices that get us every time. Perhaps you’ve had the lover whose word you, for some reason, take every time he or she promises not to cheat again. Perhaps you’ve had the boss whose nakedly arbitrary and false deadlines always manage to ratchet up the stress. Well,…

Closer to the Mark

By Justin Katz | October 27, 2008 |

David Anderson, who’s running for the 4th representative district seat in the General Assembly is closer to the necessary strategy than Edward Mazze: If elected I will sponsor or support legislation aimed at: Lowering taxes on businesses and individuals. The state must spend less to lower taxes. Let’s cut unnecessary government activities while making essential…

In a Word, Professionalism

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2008 |

Julia Steiny recently heard a speaker whose conclusions point to the same problem in education, but from a different aspect: University of Chicago Prof. Charles Payne spoke recently on the subject of his book So Much Reform, So Little Change. … “Because you have institutions in which the adults fail to cooperate. Grown-up people unable…

Mazzey Fluff

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2008 |

Edward Mazze has a commentary piece in the Providence Journal business section today (that doesn’t appear to be online) that completely reverses the order and emphasis of the steps that Rhode Island must take: Here are 10 ideas for job creation our legislators should consider: Recruit Rhode Islanders, specifically business leaders, to serve as ambassadors…

Rhode Island and Sex Trafficking

By Justin Katz | October 26, 2008 |

Even as San Francisco contemplates legalizing prostitution, people who pay attention to such things in Rhode Island — where prostitution is already legal — say the regime attracts the sex-slave industry: But in fact, said Wells, slavery is occurring now in neighborhoods around Rhode Island, in the form of the forced prostitution of women and…