Justin Katz
One can hear, in the expected quarters, the admonition that Eliot Spitzer’s $80,000 whoring habit is a private matter. I wonder how many who’d make that argument also see David Richardson’s travails in Providence — where he recently requested proof of the citizenship status of an Hispanic customer to his store — as private. I…
See, this sort of thing ought to be a state government’s first priority: After reexamining the condition of Rhode Island’s bridges, the state Department of Transportation has identified the need for “approximately $600 million in bridge repair and replacement projects” over the next five years, Governor Carcieri told a press conference today. But the money…
… and other budget draining policies in Rhode Island, I’d suggest that most of the solutions for this problem are of an indirect nature: The heads of four Rhode Island hospitals testified yesterday that their medical institutions are teetering on the brink of financial disaster. And they pleaded with key lawmakers to help — or…
It was a welcome observation, during my short lunch break, that Bob Owens of Smithfield has my back: Does Mr. Crowley expect everyone to live in a liberal-socialist utopia where everyone gets paid the same no matter what his or her job is — as, say, in Cuba, with all the benefits one gets in…
Well, I know how to fix this. Let’s focus on the how-to of “safe sex,” destigmatize lascivious behavior, increase access to the abortive undo, remove pressure toward (indeed undermine the culture of) marriage, and attack anybody who voices opinions fitting the 1960s radical’s definition of repressive: About 1 in 4 teenage girls in the United…
The problems with it are manifold (some enunciated in the comments section), but Tom Sgouros’s analysis of property taxes brings to light an interesting conceptual matter: However, consider the question, “how much property tax do the richest 11,900 people in Rhode Island pay?” With the data I have, I can’t say for sure, but I…
The bout of grousing that Eliot Spitzer’s solicitous troubles inspired from John Derbyshire sounds all too familiar. Here are the final paragraphs, which hit the page like a fist on the desk: All the TV talking heads are telling me, with their sternest let-him-who-is-without-sin faces on, that it would be wrong, wrong to poke fun…
A cost-benefit analysis of sorts has led me to give up on the Tiverton town council. I simply can’t afford to devote that much time to such an unprofitable activity (especially if my taxes are going to continue to climb). Still, the school committee remains sufficiently interesting and important that I’ll continue to make the…
It’s a favorite argument of some of the antagonists ’round here to insist that household incomes have remained stagnant. The unions only look like they’re raking it in, you see, because they’re advancing at the rate that should be universal. Now, we can (and often do) argue that the benchmark relies on impossible mandates, but…
Just wanted to highlight Max Fenig’s comments on school vouchers: After seeing the poor results for R.I.’s public schools as measured against proficiency standards, we all know what must be done: Double the money for public education and we may reach mediocrity! But one matter regarding education in this state is worthy of note. We…
