Marc Comtois

Sharing the Tax Burden

By Marc Comtois | October 15, 2007 |

Chris Edwards at CATO illustrates how Americans currently share the tax burden (h/t). First, the shiny graph: Then Edwards’ analysis: 1990 was before the Clinton tax increases of 1993. 2000 was after the modest tax cuts of 1997, but before the Bush tax cuts of 2001. 2005 was with the Bush tax cuts in place.…

RE: DMV Fake Ids

By Marc Comtois | October 12, 2007 |

More arrests in the DMV fake ID case, and a little more info on Dolores Rodriguez-LaFlamme: Dolores Rodriguez-LaFlamme, 40, of Providence, one of the two clerks arrested in the fraud scheme, had already been ordered deported. Her application for adjusted immigration status had been denied after a federal investigation discovered two fraudulent marriages, according to…

Department of Motor Voter Fraud?

By Marc Comtois | October 11, 2007 |

Understandably, the emphasis on the just-revealed Rhode Island DMV fake ID scandal is on how a “valid” driver’s license can help an individual avoid some unpleasant questions about their citizenship and/or “activities”: Dolores Rodriguez-LaFlamme, 40, of Providence, and Soraya Santiago, 42, of Pawtucket, are accused of working with two “middlemen,” who were paid about $2,500…

It’s the demography stupid! (At least partly…)

By Marc Comtois | October 10, 2007 |

Mark Steyn pithily sums up a little-discussed truism undergirding many social welfare programs: This is why I’m opposed to universal social programs – because they were set up on the basis of mid-20th century birth rates. Defined benefit plans and the pending Social Security crisis seem to prove the point, no? He also links to…

Consensus Cascade: Fear the “Experts”

By Marc Comtois | October 10, 2007 |

The New York Times piece, “Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus” explains how a scientific “consensus” came into being that a low-fat diet was best (despite evidence to the contrary) (via Dale Light). How’d it happen? We like to think that people improve their judgment by putting their minds together, and sometimes…

Move along, nothin’ to see here: R.I. has nation’s worst business tax climate

By Marc Comtois | October 10, 2007 |

The sun rose and somewhere a dog bit a man. And the Tax Foundation has new numbers {PDF} that paint the usual grim picture for Rhode Island. Here are some bullet points taken from the ProJo story on the matter (all are quotes from the piece): The Tax Foundation based its rankings on five taxes:…

What Kind of Conservative are you?

By Marc Comtois | October 9, 2007 |

Fred Hutchinson has a quick summary of the 5 kinds (are there more?) of conservatism and their historical roots. Offered without comment and merely to pique your intellectual curiosity.

Corrente: Martineau latest to cop a plea

By Marc Comtois | October 9, 2007 |

WPRO reports that U.S. Attorney Robert Corrente has announced a plea agreement with former House Majority Leader Gerard Martineau (D, Woonsocket), who was charged with mail fraud. Martineau apparently opposed pharmacy choice legislation until pharmacies would do business with his company. According to a ProJo piece in 2004: Two of his customers were CVS and…

S-CHIP Veto

By Marc Comtois | October 3, 2007 |

The President vetoed the bill that sought to expand the S-CHIP program and our usual suspects piped up with the same old hyperbole: “Playing politics with the health care coverage of 10 million children is unacceptable, but that is exactly what President Bush did today when he vetoed H.R. 976, the reauthorization of the State…

Amgen Shows Economic Diversification is Best

By Marc Comtois | October 2, 2007 |

I’m sure I’ve written something similar to this ProJo editorial before (I know the link is here somewhere….) What a state like Rhode Island must do to prevent being hammered by the decisions of one company is to focus less on attracting individual firms and sectors and more on creating an overall climate for companies,…